This is certainly not true, it is simple middle class hate. Most state workers do not change when the administration does, only some that do not work and the "upper management".

I fixed it... but then again, he MAY have been looking for a bride. You just never know in this country.

It is most certainly is true, hundreds of thousands are political appointees who perform no work, others do work when there are funds to be collected. Not that a hundred percent are corrupt but the whole structure could be viewed as largely a criminal enterprise aimed at keeping the current office holders in power. The article from below was written before the K's took over and I'm sure the situation has only gotten worse since.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/18/wo...from-diet.html

Again, you are implying that most of the state workers are politically appointed, when it is only a very small number concentrated in certain offices which generally do not have any kind of contact with the public. Typical middle class hate for the State. And I read the article, which in fact seems to criticize more the number of elected officials that we have than the "ñoquis".

The article gives an estimate of 100,000 people who are on the payroll strictly as political operators, this doesn't include probably hundreds of thousands more who have their jobs because they are friends or relatives of politicians. I don't know the number of government employees in Argentina but the percentage of political jobs in the government is certainly very high and is a cause of much of the corruption here. This is not unique to Argentina, this same problem can be found throughout Latin America.

Just as a comparison the number of political appointees in the U.S. government is less than 10,000 out of a workforce of 2.7 million people.

I find it hard to believe that because of a change in administration these public officials will try to bribe you. As somebody else wrote earlier: most personnel that changes with the administration are political functions and not so much rank-and-file personnel. Now of course, standard public official wages are low and some people seek to gain an extra income through bribes.

But it's not the ñoquis shaking you down on the spot, because they are on the payroll but do not even show up at work, well maybe the 29th of each month to receive their check.

Furthermore, the 'lower' political operators on the payroll of more decentralized public organs tend to be the punteros and jefes de manzana, and you'll hardly come accross one of them as long as you steer clear from the conurbano

ROTFLMA. Thank you everyone! A reality check and a great laugh. Can it get any better? I love this forum!