Frustration of all kinds certainly seems to be running at high levels today.  ("I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!", as the movie Network put it.)  And without doubt, people appear to have had it with the stifling of their initiative.

But how much of this stifling comes from the enactments and provisions of government agencies?  How much do most people have to do with government agencies, anyway?

I’ll venture my own history of citizen contact as being roughly typical. It goes as follows:

1.  Every few years, I’ve had to fill out some forms relating to cars and my right to operate them.

2.  Every year in the spring, I’ve had to fill out some other forms related to the money that’s been withheld from my paycheck, and my chances of getting some of it back.

Possibly I’ve led a charmed life.  Possibly even as I write this, untold legions of my neighbors are toiling over required forms that demand to know what color socks their children will wear to school tomorrow.

Still, I’d think that at least one of my neighbors would have mentioned forms like that to me.

Let’s continue with the assumption that I’m roughly typical:

Have my experiences with government agencies left me seething with unresolved hatred?

Hey, I have to admit, I was kind of ticked the time they spelled my name wrong on the car registration form.  I also tend to mutter a lot when I do my taxes.  Mostly this involves the size of the bite that taxes take out of my paycheck; but I realize that’s really the work of politicians (i.e., the guys who are talking so much about getting tough on government).   I do tend to complain a lot, though, about how many forms I need to fill out, and how complicated they are.

Do I demand of political candidates that they promise speedy redress of these grievances?

Well, I suppose I can’t really hold out for the guy who assures me that next time around, the Department of Motor Vehicles won’t put an "s" at the end of my name.  Getting a better-designed tax form seems like a more reasonable proposition.  But even at that, I’d have to kind of wonder about the Presidential candidate who spent too much time addressing himself to Line 13B of Form 1040.

Overall, what kinds of experience-related attitudes toward the government bureaucracy are indicated here?

Well, I guess I’m not really ready to take pitchfork in hand and join in a storming of, say, the Bureau of Weights and Measures.