T S Elliot wrote The Hollow Man 100 years ago, in 1925. It encapsulates so much of what’s wrong with us:
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
In losing our core ethos, commonly thought of as willfulness, our end appears much closer than our commencement. If our end is to come, let history mark it as suicide rather than murder. It’s not preordained either; we still have a chance to reverse our slide through the application of will sufficient to overcome bureaucratic inertia and the Deep State’s tendency to fight change that threatens its existence. Perhaps Trump’s most challenging task will be to reverse the damage done by 65 years of government unionization and reignite the American Dream.
How Unionization Impacts Governance:
The unionization of the government workforce has led to inefficiencies, divided loyalties, and complicated management processes. Most succinctly, unionization moved “We The People” into third place behind the union and their fellow government overlords. Once that hurdle was overcome, every other bad trait of government rose to a kind of protected activity. Like tenured school teachers and professors, government employees became empowered to wag their superior finger in the face of those who pay their exorbitant salaries and benefits without fear or consequence.
Our erosion of will must start with the question of why the government feels it must lie to us as its default position. They return the favor once the people understand their government doesn’t trust them.
Our government mainly comprises ordinary citizens with the same vices, proclivities, and drivers that most have. Many people who work in government like the collegial vibe of government work, which demands less on average and rewards more than average vs. the private sector. Most of us could never see ourselves working for the government. We are not denigrating anyone who chooses to work in government; it only highlights that people are people. This means they value their own needs and wants over that of the State or your welfare. Just as people can be loyal to their families, religion, or company, they tend to be loyal to the government that employs them for self-interest and frequently develop an attitude of it’s us against them, leading them to hide bad news, lie, work the minimum required, and dissemble.
Few people aspire, as their life’s ambition, to work for the government and serve others, yet reigniting the American Dream requires a shift in mindset. Some do, but a minuscule few. Working for the government is just a job for 95% of government employees, nothing more. Working for the government is not altruistic, notwithstanding some believing otherwise. The same rules apply to politicians, with one additional element: a desire to exercise power over others, be it their underlings or Joe Citizen. Too many elected officials are closet sociopaths who hue to the sound of their own voice, pay lip service to the wants and needs of their constituents, and throw the Constitution out whenever it no longer serves them. Trump and state governors must stop making excuses for government failures.
Can RIFs for Federal Workers Help Reignite the American Dream?
Federal workers, perhaps for the first time, are facing the possibility of being RIFED (Reduction in Force), which scares them. Good! President Kennedy created unionization through Executive Order 10988. Its continued existence is not cast in stone. President Ronald Reagan was responsible for the dissolution of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) in 1981 following a strike that caused great harm to millions. I could make the same argument today that the federal bureaucracy has run amuck and could be reined in to provide better service to our citizens while saving us tens of billions of dollars and depolitizing it. Remember that federal employees donated approximately 84% of their contributions to Democratic candidates in the 2024 election cycle.
We all make mistakes; the best of us fix those mistakes by applying will and perseverance.
Failure underlies so much of Blue State politics that no one even questions it anymore. A case in point is California’s forestry management and water policies directly tied to the current wildfire crisis. LA’s Mayor found attending an inauguration in Ghana more critical than managing a local crisis. Watch the blame game take center stage as politicians scramble to keep their jobs!
Reclaiming our will requires cohesive leadership. If I were President Trump, I’d take my fellow Republican Senators and Democrats into a room, lock the doors, and not berate them; instead, tell them a story. Tell them that only once in the last 30 years have the Republicans possessed the opportunity they hold at this moment and now once again. This opportunity may never come again if we insist on our current default position:
Never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Perhaps the most willful leader in the Republican party in the last generation was Newt Gingrich, my Representative in Cobb County while Speaker of the House. He lived in my subdivision, where I interacted with him on occasion. Newt’s “Contract with America” was a brilliant masterstroke of marketing that resonated with the American people and bound Republicans to a shared vision that superseded a lot of the typical personal boosterism politicians employ to stand out from the crowd. We need that shared vision once again. I hope President Trump goes beyond relying on his persona and widely expressed narrative to capture and hold more Americans to a positive vision of the future and especially to convince Republican Senators and Representatives that what he accomplishes in his first 100 or 200 days will define our country for the next generation, perhaps more. It’s use it or lose it time; a critical mass of leaders and functionaries must be onboard, or we will have squandered the last opportunity to demonstrate the necessary will and resolve for a generation.
Conclusion:-
Let’s grasp the opportunity on the table for what it is: a door opening that can see America rediscover its roots and see its citizens fall in love all over again with what our Founders intended: freedom with responsibility, family, love of country, God-centered and that shining beacon of light and hope that the entire world can aspire to. That’s a legacy Trump and all our fellow countrymen should be proud of.
God bless America.
Allan J. Feifer—Patriot
Author, Businessman, Thinker, and Strategist. Read more about Allan, his background, and his ideas to create a better tomorrow at www.1plus1equals2.com
