the other shutdown

7/27/2019 The Other Shutdown

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The Other Shutdown

By Kristopher Joseph

October 1, 2013

Now that the U.S. Government is shut down, I want to offer some thoughts that give

a different perspective on the situation instead of the typical knee-jerk blame game

that is going on right now.

First off, I am a government employee who is one of some 800,000 civilians that got

furloughed on Oct. 1. While I am frustrated by the inability of the U.S. Congress to

pass a bill to keep the government open, I think symbolically, the government

shutdown is a mirror reflection of the shutdown in the minds of far too many

Americans.

In my opinion, the government shutdown is a result of competing ideologies that

refuse to give ground for the sake of defending their ideology. The issue of

Obamacare, the budget, and the debt ceiling are simply pawns used in this

ideological chess game.

This ideological war is no different than Christians and Muslins fighting over the

holy land in Jerusalem. Both sides think they are right, both sides have their

constituents, and both sides will tolerate little compromise when it comes to their

ideological programs.

The problem with the American political system is that politicians and citizens putmore emphasis on getting their ideological agendas passed rather than stepping

outside the box and thinking for themselves. There is so much social pressure to

align with one major party or the other, that people simply abdicate their hearts and

minds to the group will of that party.

Both sides have sound arguments for why one is right and the other is wrong. Both

draw lines in the sand, both refuse to engage in any thoughts that might be contrary

to the party line. So what we have is a house divided against itself.

The Founding Fathers warned against forming political factions because they knew

that it would be toxic to sustaining liberty and a democratic republic because peoplewould invariably place the needs of the faction above the constitutional principles of

life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The Constitution itself was designed to limit the ability of the government to

intervene in the lives of private citizens. Yet as factions and parties grew in size and

scope, the ideologies festered and spread like a cancer over the nation and in turn


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the government has grown far too large and insolvent to appease and support the

ideological needs of the citizenry.

I say we have no one to blame but ourselves. This is not a problem of the

government, it is a problem of human beings who refuse to engage their own minds

and think for themselves about how their government should fit into their daily

lives. People are simply too easily swayed by the opinions of media pundits andpoliticians who tell you what you want to hear through the lens of your ideology and

needs.

When we give in to an ideology, we set up blinders to outside discussion, we

disengage our critical thinking apparatus and we become parroting lunatics trying

to defend our opinions with rage, emotion and ad hominem attacks. Our

government is a reflection of our mindset.

Your representative, your senator and your president are avatars that play out your

political mind game.

As it stands now, we can see that it is our minds that have shutdown and the

government is simply adhering to that reality. So the only way to change the

untenable situation in the nations capital is to change the capital in our minds.

Every man-made thing in our lives is a result of what our minds create and what we

allow to exist. To simply throw out this Congress and president and vote in a new

one will not change the situation unless we first address how our minds are ruled by

ideology.

Only when we can break free of these political prisons will be able to relate with one

another as individuals living on common soil. The two political parties in power will

do everything they can to divide us and keep us fighting with each other. This is thesurefire way that they will maintain power by pitting you against a common enemy.

Our government and our social lives should not be run by the notion of simply

defeating an ideological enemy, and yet that is what we are witnessing right now.

Everyone is talking about how there is more division, inequality and unfairness in

America. And yet we truly believe that it is the governments role to fix these things.

But what is the government? It is simply people, people who are acting on your

ideology.

Therefore, division, inequality and unfairness are our issues, we have to wake up

and solve these things by thinking and acting differently to eradicate these things. Ifyou think the government is going to do it, then you will continually be

disenchanted because the competing factions will dilute every action into a bigger

unintended problem.

So, before you go to the next ballot box to vote, think about what ideological avatar

you are dubbing into power. Do you want just another person to fight in your

ideological war over the holy land? Or do you want someone who stands on their


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own with their own mind with principles that support life, liberty and the pursuit of

happiness?

An even better solution is to try to live your life with as little government

involvement as necessary. Strive for a self-sufficiency and independence that does

not need a politician deciding what food you should eat or what size soda you can

drink. The size, scope and power of a government is relative to how much we thinkwe need it to be. Show your government that you dont need them and it will go

away and be impossible to self-destruct and hurt its constituents.

This shutdown is our shutdown. We the people have to own this shutdown and

realize that the legislation that needs to first happen is between the bipartisan halls

of our minds.

the other shutdown

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