I wrote last week about Change Concepts leading to Change Ideas and I think we need to apply this concept to public governance ASAP!
With the arrival of another government "shutdown" in Washington, the question arises as to whether an elected government can actually accomplish anything of use in this day and age. The concept of the "swamp" must be examined more critically on a more regular basis. I'm planning to write more about the overarching dissatisfaction with governments shortly but on the occasion of this shutdown in Washington, I couldn't resist examining the idea of whether or not current governments actually accomplish anything positive. The game that is being played in Washington right now seems to have more to do with the obsessive hatred of Donald Trump and the concern of the governing establishment over maintaining its relevance.
Certain questions come to mind like: How does denying pay to military personnel solve the problems of Washington government?; or How does the operation of a national park even get reconciled with the gamesmanship of today's political world? If a government, meaning a legislature, can shut itself down over dysfunction and its legislators can still be paid, then why can't the useful government-funded services simply remain open and do their job? Perhaps a change concept that we look at should be that elected officials only oversee existing services and purposefully contemplate necessary changes. The minute you let such officials be in charge of whether existing services that everyone agrees should continue remain funded, you give the elected officials another pawn. It should perhaps be an expectation that existing services remain in effect until due process in the legislature leads to a decision to discontinue or modify such services.
Let's think about the alternative currently manifesting itself. Why does it make sense that someone whose job it is to scrub seagull poop off of the Washington Monument and who fulfills this duty every day on the job could be disciplined over even fired on the spot for deciding to change his/her own job description but the person whose job description it is to ensure that the entire government apparatus functions effectively, as a steward of public funds, can routinely get distracted in partisan gamesmanship and pretend it is his/her proper job? Alternatively, why not consider a new reality where the government bureaucrats and elected officials are only permitted to ply their trade if they remain adherent to their actual documented purposes and the people who actually go out and work on behalf of the rest of us (public servants?) are guaranteed to continue to get paid so long as they continue to faithfully discharge their duties?
Let's think about this concept. The elected guardians of our collective resources should not be able to use the threat of withholding the expenditure of such resources for the purpose of advancing their political objectives. Does that not just make sense? We need to have an adult conversation about this sort of thing.
What other #adultconversations would you like to start?
All the best,
CW
