Government Funding

Hey Steph,
  So, the government's been shut down for one week as of today, and I'm sure, like me, you've read and heard and said a lot of opinions on this matter. After I got over the initial irritation and anger at Congress for being so irresponsible with the jobs of 800,000 people and tried to understand what the politicians were trying to achieve with their stalemate, I had, oddly enough, a positive response to everything happening--or not happening--in DC.

A week ago, I went to my local library to hear the state poet laureate speak. It was awesome! He referenced some of the greatest writers that have ever lived, some more obscure than others. And I had that rare occurrence in which I felt like I actually learned something from my undergrad degree in English. As I looked around the room, I noticed two demographics represented: white-aired retiree couples and single, twentysomething females. There was that one twenty-three year old dude wearing a track shirt and chasing around his toddler, but he turned out to also be a student poet, so we'll place him firmly in the outlier category. The vast majority of the attendees were the retiree couples, but the handful of ladies like myself made me feel at home. I'm a big fan of education, and I felt surrounded by fellow epistemophiles (that's "lovers of knowledge"). At the end of the night of thought-provoking prose and verbally delectable poetry, we received one more gift: a free copy of Tinders, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Free knowledge and books! I didn't know I lived so near heaven.

You know who built and supports this slice of heaven? The government! And fortunately, it was the local government and not the federal government. That would've shutdown my wonderful night. Man, libraries are such a beautiful public service, and something I don't want to live without. Just like the National Parks that are closed all around the nation, libraries are something about the government that I can fully get behind.

So every morning that I wake up and the government is still shutdown, I've decided to replace my frustration with the government with something about the government I'm not frustrated with, like libraries and decent roads.

Check out music from the National Parks--fortunately, not shutdown by the government.

Cheers,

Amanda