COMPLAINTS ARE GOOD

As someone who has worked in customer service for private industry I recognize that complaints are good. If customers complain we have the opportunity to address their complaints and keep them as a customer. They also provide us a valuable service. They can make us aware of problems we were not aware of. They save us the expense of costly studies to find, on our own, what we can do to make our product or service more competitive. The last thing we want is for them to silently take their business elsewhere.

Government employees, and others employed by monopolies, have always had some difficulty with this. The complainer is more easily ignored, dismissed, or even punished for their complaints. Their silent acceptance of things the way they are, regardless of the degree of the flaws and their costs in inefficiency, is preferred. In extreme cases the costs is the oppression and death of the innocent. The costs may even extend to the eventual destruction of our nation and way of life. This is dealt with by a passing of the buck. It is, always, the fault of some other agency or department. It can even be blamed on the complainer who brings the problem to the attention of the public. The complainer is painted as "disloyal" or labeled as an "enemy combatant" giving aid to the enemy. Whether it is due to an arrogant pride, or intentional disregard for the consequences via knowledge their children will still be wealthy and they will be dead by the time the decline and destruction has become irreversible, the complainer is dealt with harshly.

History has yet to develop the perfect system of government. As a result; civilizations rise and fall, Nations and Empires rise in power and affluence only to decline and collapse. The selfish and the arrogant acquire power and silence the complainers. The system becomes increasingly warped. Where it once served the interests of all, increasingly, it serves the interest of only a few at the expense of the many. The fortunate few then take their wealth and flee. An option they denied to the complainers. A government, as a monopoly, can keep all confined within it’s borders until the end comes.

The only protection against this is a system that provides for more than just recognition of free speech but also an attitude of respect towards those who will sacrifice their own self-interests and exercise the courage to complain. Many have suffered, and even died on foreign soil, to advance the interests of our nation. They are remembered on Memorial Day. I propose we also have a day of recognition for the complainers who have fought and died on our own soil to advance the interest of our nation. Many of these are unknown soldiers. Few of them attain the notoriety and recognition of Martin Luther King. Most are subjected to oppression of one form or another that eventually achieves the purpose of silencing them. But; often, as a result of their efforts, their complaints were addressed, corrections were made, and our system of government improved despite the consternation of bureaucrats and politicians shamed in the process of being held accountable to the people.

Sadly; these brave and conscientious souls are often unjustly labeled enemies of the state. Their names are kept on file with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. The results of their efforts are demeaned while others take credit for corrections and improvements that would have not occurred but for their efforts. Upon their death they are either forgotten or their memory tarnished, by those they offended, who chose to call them traitors. This is, too often, the fate of the person who loves their nation enough to criticize the people who live in the comfortable confines of employment in the government monopoly.