Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I guess we will never stop putting individuals into a group and attributing the actions of some individuals to an entire group. Hence, we discuss “the government.”

I have been a citizen of the United States since birth. I was an employee of the United States Federal government for 28 years. The United States Federal government, a.k.a., “the government” employs US citizens (not 100%, but you get the idea).

Every US citizen is a person. Ever meet a loving caring person? Ever meet a person who is spiteful and hateful? Ever meet a good person who is having a bad day? We could continue with descriptors of this person and that person.

Some persons employed by the government are methodical, full of thoughts, have a big heart, and are honest. Some persons employed by the government are overly ambitious and constantly lie to make their point and be promoted to positions of power. It is a shame that we have the latter. I wish they would be found and fired, but that rarely happens.

The vast majority of persons employed by the government are not the smartest person in the world since there is only one of those. Half the persons employed by the government are below average (half of everyone else is below average, too).

I wish journalists would stop lumping all these persons into one thing call “the government.” I wish journalists would provide the names of individuals who did this or said that or something else. I guess those are wishes that will not be fulfilled any time soon.