Today is day 10 of the “government shutdown.” The US government has declared a “shutdown” before during the Reagan, Carter, Ford, Clinton and Bush administrations. They are essentially like more extreme versions of filibustering usually over budget proposals. But the police still go to work. Social security offices, the department of veteran affairs, the FBI, CIA, army, and the rest of the Department of Defense are going to work. The politicians are still working and still getting paid. 1.3 million government workers are required to work, despite not getting pay until after the shutdown. Some national parks have closed as a result, but they are still open to government mining and drilling, which is ongoing. So, almost nothing has actually shutdown. Congress is just making more money by further exploiting natural resources and not paying federal employees, expecting them to work for free. If only the government would actually shut down, the world would be a far better place, which is why it is ironic they threaten to do what many actually want. Some agencies that do not harm people like NASA and the EPA are being furloughed the most while the bloated military and “intelligence” (surveillance) sectors are seeing the least cuts, which is unsurprising. Whenever states need to cut spending, they always cut their social services instead of their oppressive functions.

The term “government shutdown” is used as a scare tactic and an excuse for Congress to do even less. Of course, they would never actually shut themselves down as they would be ceding their power. Many in Congress and in the Obama administration claim their hands are tied in one way or another, but literally threatening to not do your job (in order to take wages from workers with less power) is the best way to keep it. It’s also just another poor excuse to play the blame game between the blues and the reds, leading to more bickering and partisanship, which both sides can use to justify inaction. It’s time for a new system entirely built voluntarily from the bottom up. Let’s bring about a real, permanent shutdown to all states.