America the broken

This article on the bail bond industry in America is incredible. An entire system has been created in which no one benefits but the bondsmen and the county officials they help elect. Read it. Incredible.

No, scratch that. Incredible is the wrong word. Incredible means not credible, which means unbelievable.

This situation is sadly, quite believable. But in a country that prides itself on being a paragon of democracy and efficiency, and a shining beacon to the rest of the world, it's ridiculous how absolutely nothing works as it "should". Not even something simple like posting bail.

I think it's safe to say that most Americans have an idealized conception of how things in their country are supposed to work. This isn't a liberal vs. conservative thing in most cases. There is a general national consensus on how certain institutions are "supposed" to work. You know what I mean. The description of things you would learn in civics class, if you had taken an American civics class. It is reinforced in and by movies, television and cartoons.

I think it's also safe to say that practically nothing in The Greatest Country On Earth™ works as it should.

I'll repeat that, for emphasis: In America, practically nothing works as it should.

A straightforward, plain English explanation of almost any aspect of american public life or society is enough to shock.

I'm only basing this on anecdotes of particular industries and institutions, but I do believe that the plural of "anecdote" can in fact be "data", or at least I think its true in this case. I'm prepared to defend my pet thesis.

To anyone reading this, have you got an idea in mind of an American institution or industry which you believe goes against this and actually does work as it should, more or less? If so, please post it in the comments. Feel free to include what you believe to be a description of how it "should" work. I will investigate, and write something about it.

Examples of topics: Food production, credit cards, Congress, public schools, the military, health insurance, prisons.

All of the examples I've picked differ greatly in practice from how they "ought" to work. Your job is to find a topic that doesn't.

*Note that in principle that it's possible for something to differ from how it "should" be because it has become more modern and effective. This is possible, but as often as not modern innovations not only shift something from its traditional methods, but they make it more inefficient at the same time. Private military contractors would be one example.

** If the widely held perception of something is that it already is crappy, don't bother listing that as an example. eg. Mcdonald's clerk. The public's perception of that job is probably largely correct, but I don't think that's much to brag about.

edit: It just occurs to me that by posting this, I'm running the risk of getting submissions to the effect of:

"Yoga class. You pay money, go to a class and do yoga. Works like it should."

I guess that's a risk I'll have to take.