Public service/customer service: Same difference, right?

I originally posted this in response to a thread about overreacting "helicopter parents" getting a teach fired. The commentor wondered why we as a society seemed to be obsessed with pandering to whiny hypercritical parents who cause a fuss if you dare do something other than treat their child as a pampered pet. I gave a reply that suggested it might actually be a societal attribute bigger then just classrooms:

Because too many people who should know better have been indoctrinated to confuse civic service with customer service. So instead of being dedicated to helping citizens improve their way of living by say, educating and nourishing developing minds, our society is suppose to focus on keeping consumers placated enough to become punctual drone-like shoppers. Therefore we must appeal to appeal to any wants (needs schmeeds, amirite?) that coincide with that goal and appease the angry consumer back into their sheep-like state of spending. After all "the customer is always right" right?