


Politicians in some countries feel obligated to make their constituents happy. Citizens who draw attention to problems, or who complain loudly and frequently enough, are considered "involved." They may be able to convince their local politicians to handle perceived problems.
It is not clear whether the politicians need to be reminded about problems, or whether they just want to get the nudniks off their backs. At any rate, the system works.
Things get handled differently in Israel. Don't try to copy the system that is successful abroad. You will be disappointed.
Olim who complain are labeled as dissatisfied nudniks. Some people may be offended, and they will tell you quite bluntly to go to back "home," where you will be happy with the situation.
Yes, Jews around the world do complain. However, Israelis don't expect to accomplish anything by their ranting. Their complaints are rarely leveled at a particular perpetrator of any perceived evil.
For some reason, people from Western countries are never warned about this cultural difference.
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Keywords: Complaining, Israel, Nudniks, Personality, Politics
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