By Clinton McIntosh–
I’m glad the government shutdown is over, but for some reason, I’m not filled with any kind of beaming hope that our leaders won’t continue to put us through these ridiculous manufactured crises anytime soon.
As a Political Science major, I’ve read a lot—possibly too much—about how the American political system has operated over the years, and I’m well aware that it has pretty much never gone smoothly. But when a distinct minority can shutdown services paid for by the same people they’re supposed to be representing over a law that has been on the books for several years now, a law supported by a president who got reelected by campaigning on the law, a law that was upheld by the Supreme Court, I can’t help but figure the next time we have to raise the debt ceiling, or accomplish any other task that used to be viewed as procedural, we’ll find ourselves in a similar self-inflicted situation.
The shutdown cost the American public money and interrupted tons of lives for what turned out to be no reason. I have my own political views and opinions, and I try my best to respect the views of others, but this has been silliness at its finest, and its incredibly frustrating, as well as borderline embarrassing for me, since I’m about to be picking up a Political Science degree. When Congress actually passed laws, for better or worse, it was at least interesting. Oh well.
On a similar note, picking a path to take after I graduate has been difficult; I’m not in any real hurry to jump into the real world and I recognize that my last chance, probably for a long time, to do maybe do some traveling, or take it easy without any real consequences is fast approaching, and I’m looking to make the most of it and find some inspiration and direction in life.
Pressure, both from myself and those around me, is mounting. But things tend to sort themselves out, right?