Comment by ivewonyoung

> I can vote for a politician to fix the government services. And the local politicians know that keeping the government running well enough is needed to be re-elected

That is one issue among several reasons to pick a politician. Also politicians have limited powers to fire non-performers which gets bogged down in the court system to fire just one person.

> I have zero leverage on AT&T.

People can switch away easier from companies, it happens all the time, companies lose and gain customers all the time. Bad or mediocre service has killed many companies, the effect is far greater than on governments because they get to fund themselves from you even if you don't like or want them. Govt is the ultimate monopoly.