Yeah, government bureaucracy really seems to be a breeding ground for mediocrity. It seems that wherever a system exists where people aren't truly held accountable for being good at their jobs, inefficiency and laziness soon rise up. Things can continue until someone actually notices the problem, but it often really is too late to do anything about it. And with the government in charge, they may not get caught at all. You can see the large scale effects of this kind of system in communist countries like Russia. When enough people stop working hard, the whole economy can fall apart.
Every man dies, but few truly live. Live your life to its fullest, every day as if it were your last.