Government Shutdown: Are We Serious?

I must admit something: despite calling myself a journalist, I’ve never bothered to concern myself with politics at all. But to make up for it, I’ve learned all I could about the current state of America’s government. And for any similarly uninformed readers, here are some simple explanations.

The Republican Party advocates for a smaller government, one less involved in the economy, while the Democratic Party typically supports a larger government role in economic matters. Thus, Democrats want to increase taxes to fund the government’s expanded role, while Republicans advocate for lower taxes for all. However, Republicans also support a larger budget for the military and are more aggressive when it comes to U.S. national security issues, often opting for violence before negotiation. On the other hand, Democrats believe in multilateralism. [https://www.britannica.com/question/How-is-the-Democratic-Party-different-from-the-Republican-Party]

Currently, Democrats are opposed to President Donald Trump.

A government shutdown is when Congress fails to pass funding legislation, resulting in a temporary halt of non-essential government operations because agencies lack the legal authority to spend money. Therefore, many federal employees go home without pay. As of last Wednesday, the 12th, the shutdown has ended.

Despite my uneducated stance on politics, the first reaction I had when I heard about the shutdown was, “Are we serious?” I mean, an entire group of employees isn’t being given their salaries, the government ceases to work, and national security is at risk. there should’ve been measures created against this outcome. But then again, there are present-day politics at play, as well as shifts in leadership that may have caused politics to shift and change unpredictably.

In the end, what shocks me isn’t the shutdown itself. It’s the fact that an entire well-established country could grind to a halt because of political deadlocks.