ozskipper
sir.
yes it is a VERY 'broad generalisation',as much as we were 'public servants' when we were owned by the government.
general opinion is that 'public servants' are those who are left in canberra,state government HQ,embasy's etc,etc when there is an election.the pollies come and go,the 'public servants' are career people who stay there.i accept your argument for those people,although i dont accept that it is as 'squeeky clean' as you purport.
and as i said i did not mention 'public servants',i was talking about seniority with pollies.
armed forces are not in those terms 'public servants'.and there is SENIORITY,and perks.
it is a fact of life that we as humans try to be better than, or lord over, others in any way we can,( a generalisation i agree)
'if you can get more than the other bloke,then all the better'.'the one with the most toys wins'
you just cant avoid it.controls will have influence,but it will still happen,and has throughout history.
and the thrust of the juniors to equal the seniors is also somthing which will go on 'ad infinitem'
thanks for your lesson,but not everyone agrees.that is a fact of life too.