&gt; Regardless of one&#x27;s politics, it&#x27;s critical that we hold our institutions accountable and help them get better over time.<p>I think this is naive. A huge portion of the electorate&#x27;s views are all about actively seeking institutional collapse - get in power, undermine the institution (through budget cuts, restrictions, demoralizing the workforce, etc), wait for the inevitable problems to discredit the institution and finally get rid of it. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Starve_the_beast" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Starve_the_beast</a><p>Holding institutions accountable takes a back seat when the real argument is whether they should exist at all. If you think the government shouldn&#x27;t be in the business of providing clean water from the tap (and there many places in the world where that&#x27;s the norm), then what&#x27;s happening in Flint is not an issue.