grahamphelan,
I do agree..as I wrote, this is a travel forum...when one spends any amount of time in another country, the various aspects of daily life are seen but it doesn't mean one has to take notice of them, except for practical purposes.
If there is a rail strike, you don't have to know what's behind it, you only need to verify the train schedules...
For myself, I came to have friends and was interested in what affected them.