Free ridership is ingrained into the very existence of the US military. We provide a public good--national defense--paid for collectively through taxation. Of course, those who pay fewer taxes than the average receive proportionately more of this good for their dollar than others. Those who pay no taxes are classic free riders, even though this may be because they simply don't earn enough money to do so. This is one of the main reasons I object to the cutting of taxes on the rich and corporations; they receive very substantial benefits from the protection we provide for their wealth.
But it's a problem within the service as well, as I realized last night when I was cleaning up after someone else's mess. (Again.) Cleaning is a highly collectivized task here. We all take turns cleaning up. But the disconnect this creates between people and their own crap leaves us with people making a bigger mess than they otherwise would, and more work for everyone.
The most common manifestation is hugely overflowing trash cans. It's not that hard to take the trash out when it's full, but nobody thinks to do it because it's someone else's duty day. Unfortunately, however, duty days get missed sometimes, and the sheer volume of trash created by soldiers is mindboggling. (Don't get me started on the lack of recycling opportunities in this job either.)
On the other hand, I guess I'm lucky to be in an MOS of 4-person teams. Nobody can afford to slack off or the mission is immediately jeopardized. Yay for economies of (small) scale.
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