Child of A Federal Worker
I'm learning that I know very little about how our government and other civic institutions actually function. One thing I'm learning about recently is who we're talking about when we gripe about "government bureaucrats." These people are not, in fact, the perpetrators of the waste, fraud, and abuse we are told is corrupting our government and robbing hardworking Americans of their retirements.
Who are federal workers?
The stated mission of the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) has been to weed out waste, fraud, and abuse by, apparently, mass-firing civil servants. The underlying logic supporting this move is that federal employees are expensive to employ and unproductive. Federal workers are now officially the new welfare queens.
Michael Lewis and a team of writers has taken a closer look into who these workers are. The new collection of essays called, Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service, tells about the remarkable lives and work of these federal employees.
Lewis introduces us to Arthur Allen, the only oceanographer in the U.S. Coast Guard's Search and Rescue division, who was deemed "inessential" during the 2018-2019 government shutdown.
As a federal civil servant, his innovation in the field of oceanography has saved many lives. He studied how different objects behave while adrift at sea, and the Coast Guard has used his techniques to rescue people.
This is just one story among many in Lewis' book of people doing exceptional work for our government.
Lewis makes the point that these individuals do work that no one else wants do. In fact, it's incumbent upon the government to take on problems the private sector cannot or will not fix. So our federal government steps in to deal with the hardest problems we have.
There is no financial incentive for cruise ship companies to develop the science of how stuff floats at sea, but now their customers benefit from the government making that investment.
Going to the moon, researching and treating rare diseases, providing healthcare to those already sick or terminally ill, spreading broadband to rural areas. The private sector has little-to-no interest in these areas, so our government steps in, and it does so by recruiting amazing talent to work on hard problems.
Hearing these stories reminded me of something I hadn't thought of in a while.
My dad was a federal worker
My childhood was financed directly by the federal government.
My dad began working as an electrical engineer for the Department of Defense a shortly after I was born, and this month he celebrates his 40th year.
His work with the government shaped my life's path in ways I'll never understand. Not only did his job support our family, but it shaped how I thought about myself and how I wanted to contribute to the world.
I grew up proud of our government
I remember my dad smiling ear-to-ear telling me how proud he was to work for the United States government. He told us stories about the engineers he worked with and what incredible things they built. He told stories about the scientists he knew who were the brightest in the world. I remember stories about the pilots and astronauts he met and how strong and smart they were.
These stories were my reality, and they made me feel safe and proud to be American. We were an awesome nation, with the smartest scientists, best engineers, and strongest warriors in the world.
"These people are the best of the best," he would say.
We innovated in every field. We were inventors and defenders of liberty. When we decided to build, we built large and beautiful. When we decided to fight, we didn't lose. And we did the right thing. We were on the side of good, more often than not.
Growing up, my dad was among the best that our country had to offer, to my mind. Our family was part of the proud tradition of our nation innovating, solving problems and helping people in ways that no other nation could.
Wanting to be the best
As I grew and became more politically conscious, I remember a strong sense of "hands off my country!" because of how proud I was of our nation.
Until I got to college, I wanted to study astrophysics and work at a research institute like CERN. All because I admired my dad and the people he worked with.
My dream was to advance human knowledge, it wasn't to get famous or rich. I wanted to explore for the sake of exploring, for the sake of humanity.
Today, I'm watching the best of the best being fired, and I'm wondering what happens to them, what happens to our government without them, and what I am supposed to make of it.
Weakening our institutions
With the loss of these workers, we're losing institutions that support the high-level discovery I grew up associating with our government.
The Trump administration has fired career medical researchers working on epidemics like cancer and diabetes. It has fired regulators who oversee vaccine safety and nuclear operations. It's fired lawyers, scientists, military generals, just to name a few groups. An enormous pool of talent has been shoved out the door and away from the vital agencies that work on behalf of the public.
For my dad, the government did not hold a monopoly on this kind of talent. America's civic institutions were, he felt, great sources of knowledge and service. Our universities, our research centers, even many private enterprises all made critical contributions to the public.
The Trump administration is extorting these institutions.
It has extorted private universities by withholding funding. It has extorted private law firms by denying security clearances and threatening action against individuals. It has cleansed government websites of established history and educational information, and ordered the Smithsonian to remove "improper ideology" from its museums.
These institutions–law firms, universities, museums, public information systems–all uphold civil society by by creating and disseminating knowledge, and distributing power and access throughout the body politic. Without strong independent law firms, universities, research institutions, and the press, our society doesn't function, at least not in any healthy way, and it certainly doesn't maintain any intellectual or technological advantage over its adversaries.
Answering the call
Last week, my dad's boss joined the ranks of career professionals fired. I heard through my mom how upset my dad was about this, saying what a good person he was.
I shudder to think of what has become of Arthur Allen.
My dad himself is planning to retire soon.
So where do we go from here? How do we act in the face of losing our heroes?
I abandoned my dreams of studying black holes and supernovas in my first semester of college. By then, my dad's glowing pride in the federal workforce was a distant memory. But watching the dismantling of our government woke these memories I have of my dad and his pride in working with the government. It also woke an urgent need to create and explore.
Our federal government may be suicidal, but I still believe our country is home to some of the best people in the world. I might need to think about reaching for the greatness that my dad spoke of in a different way.
Many of us will make our contributions outside of institutions. Some will create new and better institutions.
I believe that by being here and imagining, that I am part of something great. Although I usually don't feel that way. It takes work to remember.
Maybe I haven't actually given up on that dream I inherited from my dad, I just needed to remember it. Maybe it's the the next great cup of coffee I'll make, or planning the next great meal I'll make for my family, or remembering to make the next great phone call to my mom, or outlining the next great article I'll write.
Historian Heather Cox Richardson reminds us that during times of difficulty and transition, such as we are living through, we always get great new art. We innovate, we get new music, new literature, new media, and we should do our best to notice it when we can.
I'd add the reminder that we are the vanguard for this new and beckoning age. We will be the ones creating and innovating. All of us.
Times will be tough, but we should expect big things from ourselves and each other. As my dad gets ready to retire, I'll be thinking really, really hard about the legacy I want to leave my family and my country.
References
Jon Stewart interviews Michael Lewis. "Who Is Government? Storytime with Michael Lewis | The Weekly Show." The Weekly Show.
Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling. "Elon Musk’s DOGE Cuts Are Wreaking Havoc on Nuclear Safety." The New Republic.
Fraiser Kansteiner. "FDA staff cuts could disrupt drug reviews, putting agency's critical funding programs at risk: reports." Fierce Pharma.
Sharon Lurye and Jocelyn Gecker of the Associated Press. "How U.S. colleges are navigating cuts to grants for research after Trump restricts federal funding." PBS News.
Sam Baker. "Law firms pledge almost $1 billion in free work to Trump." Axios.
Sarah Cascone. "Can Trump Really Control the Smithsonian? Here’s What We Know." ArtNet.
Tiffany Hsu, "The White House Frames the Past by Erasing Parts of It." The New York Times.
Brené Brown interviews Heather Cox Richardson. "Dr. Heather Cox Richardson on Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, Part 2 of 2." Unlocking Us.