The government shut down. But they're still getting paid. Let that sink in.
Every few years, we go through this theater. Politicians in Washington can't agree on a budget. They threaten a shutdown. The media runs countdown clocks. Everyone pretends this is a crisis of democracy rather than what it actually is: a designed feature of a broken system.
And when the shutdown happens, here's what we discover every single time: the people who created the problem still get paid. The people who need help get cut off.
Tell me again how this system serves us.
What Actually Shuts Down (Hint: The Things That Help People)
When the government "shuts down," it doesn't actually shut down. It selectively decides what's "essential" and what's not.
And somehow, the things that help ordinary people are always "non-essential."
National parks? Closed. Can't have families enjoying public land.
Food assistance programs? Delayed or cut off. People who've paid taxes their entire lives suddenly can't access SNAP benefits or WIC.
Passport services? Suspended. Can't travel if the government decides you can't.
Housing assistance? Frozen. Because apparently keeping people housed is "non-essential."
Small Business Administration loans? Halted. Entrepreneurs trying to build something? Not essential.
Federal courts? Limited operations. Justice can wait.
CDC and FDA inspections? Reduced. Food safety and disease monitoring? Non-essential.
National museums and cultural institutions? Closed. Education and culture? Definitely not essential.
So what gets labeled "essential"? What keeps running no matter what?
What Doesn't Shut Down (The Things That Maintain Power)
Congress still gets paid. Every single member. The people who caused the shutdown? They don't miss a paycheck. Their salaries are written into permanent law specifically to ensure they never suffer consequences for their own failures.
The military keeps running. Full operations. Because defense spending is always essential—even when we're not actually defending anything.
TSA and airport security? Still operating. Can't let the surveillance state take a break.
Border Patrol and ICE? Fully funded. The apparatus of exclusion and deportation never stops.
Intelligence agencies? Running at full capacity. The NSA, CIA, FBI—all "essential."
The President's salary? Untouched. Though some presidents have theatrically "donated" theirs for PR, while their wealth grows through other means.
Debt payments to bondholders? Always prioritized. Wall Street gets paid before veterans, before students, before hungry children.
Notice the pattern? Everything that serves people is "non-essential." Everything that maintains power, control, and capital is "essential."
This isn't a bug. It's the entire design.
The Theater of "Essential vs. Non-Essential" Workers
Let's talk about the language itself: "essential" and "non-essential" workers.
During shutdowns, certain federal employees are deemed "essential" and required to work—without pay. Yes, you read that right. They have to show up, do their jobs, and hope they get back pay eventually. If they don't show up, they can be fired. If they do show up, they're working for free.
That's not employment. That's coercion.
Meanwhile, "non-essential" workers are furloughed. They're told to stay home, also without pay, and wait for politicians to figure it out.
But here's the thing: if a job is truly "non-essential," why does it exist? And if it is essential (which most of these jobs are), why can we just suspend it whenever politicians throw a tantrum?
The COVID-19 pandemic made this classification even more absurd. Suddenly, we were deciding which workers were "essential"—grocery store clerks, delivery drivers, sanitation workers—and which weren't. And the "essential" workers? They got called heroes while being paid poverty wages and denied basic protections.
The system uses this language to divide us. Some workers are worthy of pay and stability; others can be turned on and off like a faucet whenever it's politically convenient.
Why This Proves the System Is Designed for Control, Not Service
If the government actually served the people, a shutdown would be impossible.
Think about it: a business that stops serving its customers goes bankrupt. A landlord who stops providing housing gets sued. A utility company that cuts off service faces penalties.
But the government? It can just stop functioning, blame the "other side," and face zero consequences. Because it's not actually accountable to us in any meaningful way.
Politicians treat the budget like a hostage negotiation. They threaten to harm the people who depend on government services unless they get what they want. And then they turn around and tell us this is how democracy works.
This is not a democracy. This is extortion.
And the fact that it keeps happening—over and over, every few years, like clockwork—proves it's not a failure of the system. It is the system.
The government doesn't serve us. It serves power. It serves capital. It serves the people who fund campaigns and write legislation through lobbyists. We just pay for it.
What If We Funded What We Actually Need?
Imagine a different system. Just for a moment.
What if the budget prioritized people over power? What if, instead of debating whether to fund healthcare, education, and housing, those things were automatically funded—and politicians had to justify every dollar spent on military contractors, corporate subsidies, and surveillance?
What if "essential" meant things that actually sustain life—food, water, shelter, healthcare, education—instead of things that sustain power?
What if workers were never forced to labor without pay, and politicians faced actual consequences for failing to do their jobs?
What if the government couldn't shut down because the people had the power to defund it instead of being held hostage by it?
This isn't fantasy. Other countries have different systems. Mandatory budget continuations. Automatic funding for critical services. Parliamentary structures where government collapse triggers new elections instead of just... nothing.
But in the United States, we've accepted that our government can simply stop serving us whenever it wants. And we call this freedom.
The Scam Revealed
Here's the scam in plain terms:
You pay taxes your entire life. Those taxes are supposed to fund services, infrastructure, and a safety net. You're told this is the social contract—you contribute, and the system takes care of the collective good.
But when politicians can't agree on how to spend the money you've already paid, they don't take pay cuts. They don't sacrifice their benefits. They don't feel any consequences.
Instead, they shut down the services you've already paid for. They cut off benefits you've contributed to. They furlough workers who keep society running. And they do it while continuing to collect their own salaries, healthcare, and pensions.
You're paying for a service that reserves the right to stop serving you whenever it's convenient. And you have no recourse.
That's not governance. That's a protection racket.
Why We Keep Accepting This
The shutdown theater works because it creates the illusion that the system is fragile, that we're always on the brink of collapse, that we need to be grateful for whatever scraps we get.
It distracts us from asking bigger questions:
- Why is the wealthiest country in history constantly "broke"?
- Why do we have money for endless military spending but not for healthcare?
- Why do billionaires pay lower tax rates than teachers?
- Why are we negotiating whether people deserve food and housing instead of just providing them?
The shutdown scam keeps us focused on the drama—the countdown clocks, the political blame game, the "will they or won't they" suspense. It keeps us from realizing that the system itself is the problem.
We accept it because we've been conditioned to believe there's no alternative. That is just how government works. That we're powerless to change it.
But we're not.
The Alternative Is Simpler Than You Think
We don't need a government that can hold us hostage. We need a system that actually serves the people who fund it.
That means:
- Automatic funding for essential services that can't be turned off for political theater
- Consequences for politicians who fail to pass budgets—like losing their salaries, not ours
- Transparency about where every dollar goes and who benefits
- Real accountability through mechanisms that give people power, not just the illusion of it every few years
We have the resources. We have the wealth. We have the technology. What we don't have is a system designed to serve us.
And until we demand one, we'll keep watching this same scam play out over and over.
The Bottom Line
The government shut down. But they're still getting paid.
National parks close. Food assistance stops. Federal workers labor without paychecks. Families lose access to services they've paid into their entire lives.
But Congress? Still paid. The military? Still funded. The surveillance state? Still running.
This isn't a crisis. It's a feature.
And as long as we keep accepting the theater, nothing will change.
The system doesn't serve us. It never has. It serves the people who designed it to maintain their power and wealth while we fight over scraps.
So the next time you hear about a government shutdown, don't ask which side is to blame.
Ask why we're paying for a system that reserves the right to stop serving us whenever it wants.
And then ask yourself: what would it take to build something better?
About SKIP x THONIC
I'm a builder at heart, but what I build is just a means to an end. As a Product-Focused Engineer, my true work is using technology; my tools of choice being TypeScript and the modern frontend ecosystem, to solve human problems. I'm here to create products that help people feel freer, more creative, and more connected. This mission fuels my persistent problem-solving in remote, collaborative environments and shapes everything I write about and build.