He bemoans the “enlightened, highly educated managerial elite" that run things rather than the "humble, patriotic working families who make up the majority of what the elites contemptuously call fly-over country."
He writes, "Intellectual sophistication, advanced degrees, financial success, and all other markers of elite status have no bearing on a person’s knowledge of the one thing most necessary for governance: what it means to live well."
I think it is kind of ironic that Roberts insists on listing his degree (PhD) after his name on the cover. Is he afraid someone reading the book might mistake him for a humble, patriotic working man?
He also has a crazy notion that everything in the government is corrupt and unfriendly while private enterprise is caring and nice.
" It’s not because grocery store clerks and PTA moms are “good” and federal bureaucrats are “bad,” he writes. " It’s because private enterprises—for-profit or nonprofit—must cooperate, to give, to succeed."
Obviously he's never tried to deal with a cable/broadband company like AT&T or Comcast who are notorious for their inability to listen to customers. Better yet, try to negotiate with an insurance company. Grocery store clerks? He hasn't been in a store in a decade or more. Customers have to check out their own purchases in most stores. There's no customer service anymore.
In fact, the best customer service I have ever received has been from government employees. I needed to apply for a passport a couple of years ago. I filled out all the paperwork online, got the picture taken, then went to my local post office and asked the clerk's advice on the best way to mail it. We decided on Priority Mail and I watched as the clerk threw it into a huge bin.
About an hour later, I realized I had forgotten to sign the application. I went back to the post office on the slim hope that maybe my package could be located. The bin was now piled high, but the clerk got out a step ladder and patiently took the mail out of the bin looking at each Priority package until he found mine. Then he opened it, allowed me to sign the form, and resealed it without charging me a penny for his trouble.
My next best story about customer service happened a year ago when I called the Kent County Health Department.To my surprise an actual person answered the phone and was able to give me the information I needed in less time than it would have taken to negotiate the answering machine at most businesses. Hooray for the Kent County Health Department and the postal clerks and civil servants everywhere.
Needless to say, after reading the 17-page Forward I am hoping the rest of the book has more facts and less name calling.
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