Photo: Life-sized sculpture of soldiers storming ashore on D-Day, on display at the Fagen Fighters World
War II Museum near Granite Falls, MN.
It was one of those random, fleeting human connections. Driving around a corner on a dark winter evening in the big city, I suddenly noticed a man entering the crosswalk. I could have kept going around the turn. Instead, I hit the brakes.
He glanced at me, smiled, and continued to cross in front of my car. I don’t think he was smiling at me. I think it was the logo on the side of the state car that I was driving. The man appeared disheveled, making you think of a homeless person.
At the time I remember thinking, with all the problems and discomforts of such a life and his place on the socio-economic scale, at least there are public agencies to help. Was a state vehicle stopping abruptly showing him some respect? A public servant serving the public? That is a real thing, and rarely acknowledged, especially in these times of DOGE (Department Of Greed and Evil), anti-government sentiments, and deep state conspiracies.
As a former public employee, I can empathize with the thousands of rank-and-file federal employees who have lost their jobs in the assault by Elon Musk and his young and misguided cyber terrorists. It’s painful to try imagining what it must be like to continue working under the miscreants now among federal agency leaders. So far about 260,000 federal workers have left their jobs, from early retirements, buyouts, or being fired.
In an earlier post I mentioned the case of a woman who worked at a veterans’ hospital. She told her story with two illustrations, a piece of shrapnel that struck her military vehicle while serving in a Mideast war, and the Post-it note she found on her computer screen at work telling her she was fired. On the eve of the 81st anniversary of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944, it’s ironic noting that she lost her job at a veteran’s hospital, which may have included caring for veterans who served then.
Dedicated to public service
In my experience as a state government worker, I found my colleagues to be skilled and dedicated to their jobs in public service. Many could have made more money doing the same thing in the private sector. But they appreciated other intangible rewards and the sense of public service. Of course, there were some deadbeats, but no more than you find anywhere else. Even those, while not suffering from overwork, still valued their role as a public worker.
Following the “Words on Paper” tradition, I searched for books about government workers, at least those in the less dramatic roles. With astronauts, scientists, soldiers, spies, cops, it’s a different story. The search found a recently published book, Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service, edited by Michael Lewis. He is better known for his book, The Big Short, about the 2008 financial crisis.
The book’s preface shows a quote from President John F. Kennedy: “Let the public service be a loud and lively career. And let every man or woman who works in any area of our national government, in any branch, at any level, be able to say with pride and honor in future years, ‘I served our United States Government in that hour of our nation’s need’.”
One of the book’s eight chapters was written by Dave Eggers, an author whom I admire for his Metamodern influence (questioning, faith, irony, hope). In The Searchers, Eggers explores the role of government agents and others searching for a journalist who had disappeared in Afghanistan. “Whether they’re digitizing archives, chasing down cybercriminals, or discovering new planets, these public servants are committed to their work and universally reluctant to take credit,” says one review.
At the state level, and definitely less dramatic, I am proud to have worked as a public employee with a state environmental protection agency. I experienced the public service ethic that provided the motivating and inspiring undercurrent for our work. Perhaps it arises from my background, where both of my parents were public workers, my mother a nurse at a state hospital, my father a postal worker.
Of course, there is office politics and red tape; that’s true in any organization, public or private. If there are major differences in perceptions comparing the public and private sectors, they may be due to public agency work being, well, public. Who knows what goes on behind the scenes in the bowels of corporate offices? Public agencies are more exposed to public scrutiny.
But not all public employees are angels. Here I refer to ICE thugs in black, military gear arresting and detaining immigrants, most of whom have committed no serious crimes. I wonder how many of those paramilitary types who participated in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, now have enforcement jobs with the federal government.
Public service old as civilization
In addition to books about the topic at hand, my history education background and native curiosity lead me to look back to earlier times, in this case, the medieval era and role of the church. It was and still is the moral responsibility of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and all spiritual faiths, to feed the poor, heal the sick, clothe the naked, house the homeless – provide public service.
In medieval times, religious orders did that. Today, much is being done by government, and that costs a lot of money. Some conservatives and anti-government types don’t like that. I’ve heard people say, ‘why should I work by butt off and then fork over money to these deadbeats?’ To respond by trying to explain what I call ‘no-fault misfortune’ feels hopeless. I would try to explain that is what people have done over the centuries to help people in need. And you should be thankful that you are able to work and have a job.
Of course, not all public service work involves social services. My state government job was in an agency that regulated industry and the use of natural resources. Even in that role we tried our best to provide good service. We heard anecdotes that while the regulated parties did not like the rules, they had high praise for the staff. We tried to be open, responsive, and do what we could to help them navigate the regulations.
If there is a ‘deep state’, it exists more on that side of the spectrum, thousands of public servants trying to serve the public. If there is a sinister side to that, it exists mostly in the misguided minds of conspiracy buffs, and the greedy billionaires who want government and the greater public good out of their way.
