Unless you have been living under a rock, inside a cave or deep in the heart of the Kalahari Desert, you’ve probably heard about the United States Government’s record-breaking ongoing shutdown.
Already the longest government closing ever, news agencies across the entirety of the political spectrum have touted figure after figure to bring some level of perspective to a truly bizarre concept. We are no closer to understanding why or how the government could just stop working for us, but the statistics associated with the shutdown share more stories than we know.
More than 800,000 people are basically unemployed as a direct result of the government shutdown. It would be impossible to understand and re-tell each of their stories to give context to how the shutdown affects hard-working Americans. But the reality remains that these stories help us understand the shutdown better than any chart or graphic could. And perhaps most importantly, understanding the work each of these people do helps us realize how our society is disadvantaged when they are furloughed or unemployed.
In the state of Idaho alone, there are 7,731 federal workers who have faced difficulty while the government squabbles. Included among those are government land workers like park rangers who work less than two hours away at the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests. This means much of our state’s natural beauty, which we take so much pride in, is unprotected and unregulated. Similar lapses in regulation have already led to dire consequences elsewhere.
Jonah Baker | Argonaut
Yosemite National Park remains open during the shutdown, but there are no park rangers or staff to ensure the safety and comfort of patrons. Without any regulation, abuse of the facilities has popped up everywhere, including overflowing restrooms and off-leash pets on trails when they shouldn’t even be at the park in the first place.
On Dec. 25, a man died in Yosemite after falling off a cliff and succumbing to a head injury after authorities arrived an hour later. But of course, while the government is still shut down, there can be no investigation of his death to prevent further travesties.
The shutdown also has important effects on every American’s safety. As of Jan. 15, more than 32,000 Department of Homeland Security workers were still not at work, CNN reports. Large sections of the Coast Guard are also being run without pay as the branch does not fall directly under the Pentagon’s jurisdiction.
California, Texas and Virginia combine for the highest total of government workers, with nearly 430,000 people relying on hard-earned government jobs to keep their families afloat. We have moved well past the point of lost Christmases — some of these people are struggling to make simple car and rent payments due to circumstances they truly cannot control.
Still, let’s not forget the rest of the world is watching as our highest leaders act like infants. The Transportation Security Administration is one of the most important barriers to chaos and contraband entering our country, and the shutdown has resulted in astronomical levels of unscheduled sick days, hour-and-a-half security lines at our busiest airports and even a full concourse closure in Miami.
Our air traffic controllers are working unpaid, but at least their Canadian counterparts are kind enough to send some pizza to the workers we can’t pay. And even when TSA workers do show up to a job that suddenly has no security or return, they rightfully express their displeasure like when workers blared Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode” over the loudspeakers at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Jan. 9.
Even the FBI is working without pay as of Jan. 11. The nearly $5.7 billion for a border ‘wall’ that can be cut with a saw is not worth compromising the security of our country and more than 800,000 workers and their families any longer.
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected]