By Jeremy Reynalds, Ph.D. Founder and CEO Joy Junction Inc.
With the government shutdown on the minds of Americans, we wanted to see what guests at Joy Junction, New Mexico’s largest emergency homeless shelter, thought about the government shutdown showdown and all the political shenanigans.
Our shelter residents-part of a segment of our population routinely ignored by the nation’s power brokers and “movers and shakers” had some very simple-but profound-advice. Here’s what they said.
None of those to whom we talked had a positive view about the government being closed for business. One individual said that the first to be hurt would be the poor.
“The rich will continue to be rich and the poor will just get poorer. The government is too big anyway. They need to cut back, and the church needs to step up to the plate in helping the less fortunate.”
That person continued, “Eventually, all of it will likely be shut down when the entire financial mess of the world comes down. I’m just waiting with many others as the clock ticks.”
One woman told what the outworking of the shutdown means to her. She wrote, “I finally got my birth certificate so I could apply for a New Mexico driver’s license and now the Social Security office is closed. The reason I needed ID is because I really wanted to go to California for my grandmother’s memorial, which is on the 16th of this month. Now I’m not going to be able to make it!”
One person said that Republicans and Democrats need to work together. That individual said, “The Republicans and Democrats need to act like grownups … and stop acting like two- year-olds when they don’t get their way. It’s not fair to us that we have to go without, while they still have everything and don’t have to lose anything.”
Another person commented, “We need to let them know that it’s not about them; it’s about the American people. They are hurting the families that are already hurting and struggling to make ends meet. Why are they getting paid? Quit fighting!”
Someone else called the shutdown “stupid.” That person continued, “There should never be a reason for the government to stop working. The politicians shouldn’t get paid during the shutdown. Then they would have better motivation to reach an agreement.”
Someone else pleaded for communication. “I truly hope both parties will talk on fixing the issue much sooner. It’s certainly not right there are many without a paying job by the government.”
That person continued, “Sadly, a lot of Americans blame Obama that nothing is happening, when it’s actually Congress on both parties who refuse his ideas in fear it will affect them personally instead of how it will benefit the states they represent as a whole.”
One woman seemed to sum up the whole debacle, commenting “Because they can’t agree, the people have to suffer. The rich stay rich, but if you take the poor man’s fishing rod, how is he supposed to feed his family?”
That woman concluded, “You see, if they cared about us ‘simple’ folk, they would have a backup plan in case this type of situation comes up. So all I have to say to the government is, “Do your job. Stop playing with our lives.”
I think that’s something to which most people could say a huge “Amen.”
