An entire generation has grown up post Nixon and hasn't known government that worked so yes...could you blame them?

Furthermore only ~50% of the country has a passport so many haven't even seen how things run elsewhere.

Are you under the impression this is somehow different from the last few years?

Of course. Whatever problems the US government had before, mass firings, loyalty tests, furloughs, and endless other shenanigans have only exacerbated them.

Are you American? Do you think this is normal? Just curious (non American).

There is a somewhat stubborn idea that a government will always have many inefficiencies baked in, since there’s no real incentive to remove them beyond a generic “that would be nice”.

Mediocre is probably the ceiling.