Josh Karthikeyan Week 7 - The Uncomfortably Ironic Veterans Day
On Veterans Day, it is supposed to be a time to celebrate veterans: the people who defend our country and enable our lavish freedoms that we have today. However, on this day, there still remained an ominous, ever-lasting, looming cloud known as the government shutdown.
According to the BBC, the government shutdown of America began when trying to “approve a spending plan” but there was too much division between the Republicans and Democrats. They were unable to approve a spending plan and it led to the government shutting down for the first time in several years.
During this period, government employees who were considered unessential were furloughed - put on unpaid leave - until the government came back.
Imagine if you were in these employees’ shoes, practically being fired; but you aren’t even fired! And instead are just forced to wait until politicians are willing to agree to each other.
If I were these employees, I would be extremely upset and distrustful of the government.
One of the biggest groups that worked without pay were air traffic controllers who were considered essential by the government. These people maintained flights for the average person to be able to go on vacation. At least for these dedicated servers of the country, after the shutdown, they gained bonus checks from the Department of Homeland Security for $10,000.
The people who actively defend our country, the military, had their pay delayed for this entire period of time and will only receive their paycheck after the government shutdown ends
How can we celebrate our military, when they do not even get the money they rightfully earned?
The BBC also explains how “most federal employees are not paid during a shutdown, members of Congress do continue to receive their salary.”
The treatment of federal employees should be equal and if there is a government shutdown, then all employees should have to wait until a new bill gets passed.
In fact, because of Congress still earning their paycheck, many criticize the lack of shared urgency to resolve the shutdown, which led to a record of 43 days. For more than a month without pay where these employees have to use their own savings: money that could have been eventually spent for a new car, house, or support for their children.
These savings were used to survive the long, arduous days until politicians finally made up their minds.
Veteran Day was extremely frustrating because many of these veterans faced delays to access any of the the benefits they earned because offices were closed throughout the shutdown!
Image by Ahn Young-joon via Associated Press
I think you bring up a really good point that can be seen in many other aspects of life as well: the absolute inequality between members of society. It's quite ironic that they military, part of which we are supposed to celebrate on Veteran's Day, had their pay delayed. They put their life on the line for our country and done so much for our country, but then don't even get paid on time? I completely agree with your statement that Veteran's Day was extremely frustrating, because they deserve to be acknowledged for all the hard work they do. Not to mention the many in the military that have families at home: parents, children, partners. The same can be said for multiple other federal employees. They all have families to support and even if they don't, there's still rent to pay, groceries to buy, and bills to pay. It seems as if none of that is taken into consideration, since members of Congress still received their money during the shutdown. This connects back to the inequality between members of society that I mentioned before. But what makes members of Congress so much more important than other employees? I do acknowledge that they each play a certain role in Congress itself, but in the end, everyone is human. Everyone has people to support and responsibilities to keep.
ReplyDeleteHi, Josh! I’ve heard all too many stories about how veterans are mistreated, whether through pay, support, recognition, etc. I liked the scenario you wrote about and I would like to add some extra perspectives too. Imagine you’re in the army, deployed in one of the many dangerous countries across the world, fighting constantly in bloodied and hard conditions. You put your blood, sweat, and tears (literally) into fighting and risking your life protecting the United States. Aside from the horrid conditions, you start to experience psychological issues, caused from the constant heightened aggression, fear, and adrenaline, combined with the extreme gore you see on a daily basis. After somehow surviving, you come home to a low paycheck and minimal support from the government. Then, when trying to relax somehow, you turn on the TV. You find out some of your well deserved benefits might be delayed until the government opens up again. And, in the background, all you can hear is this fluorescent orange light mumbling about Democrats being the problem for the shutdown saying “I think they’re kamikaze pilots…I think these guys are kamikaze…They’ll take down the country if they have to.” Jeez Louis. Kamikaze are Japanese suicide attacks btw. Then, the cherry on top is having to march in a parade during Veterans Day celebrating the orange bulb instead of your brothers and sisters. Happy Veterans Day!
ReplyDeleteHi Josh! The people who had to go to work and not get payed properly was absolutely crazy to think about. My current events article goes over this topic and I was shocked to see this actually happen. I would absolutely hate going to work without knowing if I am even going to get payed. Imagine your boss just goes, "oops I cant pay you now, but you still have to come to work" literally crazy. It is extremely ironic that we have an entire day to celebrate veterans yet the government misuses them and doesn't even pay them for risking their lives for the country.
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