Xrhrft

As an European living in the US I'm baffled about the partial US government shutdown. Specifically the lack of public outcry surprises me. In general I have the feeling that people sympathize with the unpaid feds but don't seem to be overly angry with Washington (both parties and POTUS).

For example, I would assume that in most European countries there would have been a strike by the TSA workers, grounding the vast majority of the national passenger air travel. The economic damage of only a few days would spur the government into action, despite partisan agendas.

What makes the US so different that there is no hard push back against the partial shutdown from the population? Please stay factual and do not dwell in opinions or political party views.

To put in context that OP could understand, the US federal Government is similar to the government offices of the European union. I'm not saying the function or structure is similar, but I'm illustrating how far it is from the affairs of the normal citizen.

For example, I look out my window and my street is plowed, the highways are salted, the local courts are adjudicating, the police are policing, etc. What I need from government is being taken care of.

Further, please also be aware that the situation is fluid. No one knows how it is going to end and it will only get worse. As days go by, more things will fail. For example, my mother is retired and gets a stipend from the government for food. In anticipation of possible issues, she received her February Stipend last week, but what about March? This hints that you may see more people give an out cry in the future. But right now things are not much difference for the majority of us.

It is also worth mentioning that people are grumbling. Not just those who are furloughed, but those that depend on Federal services. For example Travelers are being hit hard. I just read a post about someone who is really upset that the "No-call" service is not working (that is a service where you complain of sales calls and attempt to get them to stop). Things are starting to fray.

There are a few things to realize about the US governmental system, that Europeans often don't get. The first is that these shutdowns are not that unusual. There have been shutdowns of some kind under pretty much every president in modern times. (Of course that begs the question "Why hasn't there been outcry every time one happens", but people do get used to things.)

Second US politics is adversarial. Really adversarial. A huge number of supporters of both political parties think that the other party is utterly evil and out to destroy the country. This means they will endure a lot of inconvenience if they think it's aimed at thwarting the plans of the 'enemy'. In most other democracies, especially European, most citizens would agree that the most important job of the government is to make sure that the country actually runs smoothly, and that ideological programs come second. (This isn't always true, but it's a lot more true than in the US.) The adversarial approach means that some party supporters see any form of compromise as 'siding with the enemy'. While in most democracies coming to a sensible compromise is a political win for both sides, in the US it can be a political loss for both sides, leading to more support for the extremist wing of your party.

Thirdly the US system if government is virtually guaranteed to have power split between its legislative bodies, and means that the three main parts of government - President, Senate and House of Representitives - are usually controlled by two different parties, and since the system give virtual veto power to each part, deadlock is inevitable. The US public has been constantly told that their system is "The best in the world", so they assume that these shutdowns are just inevitable.

Fourthly most Americans don't have any real exposure to political systems outside their own country, and what there is is often focussed on pointing out flaws (real or imaginary). This means they don't realize that shutdowns like this don't happen everywhere.

Because the US a Federal system, a lot of Government function is handled by the States or even at the local level. Examples include police, fire services, schools, many courts, garbage collection, and most roadwork.

Even at the Federal level, many things are still running. Examples include Federal courts, Social Security (Federal pensions), the post office, the military, some Federal contractors, and air traffic control.

Some things are partly curtailed. Examples include the IRS, Federal parks, some Federal contractors, and some museums. Some people are affected by these things. Many aren't, at least not immediately.

What makes the US so different that there is no hard push back against the partial shutdown from the population

• US government shutdowns are common. It has happened many times in the past. Nothing exciting.


• Federal workers have better salary packages than an average American. They knew they had to take risk for their higher returns. It's like investing in stock market; higher returns -> higher risks. Yes, we feel sorry for the unpaid workers, but they were well informed when they signed up for the job.


• The Trump government is fighting for border security. There is no such thing in the European Union (e.g. you don't need a password from France to Germany), so you may not appreciate Trump's efforts. We demand stronger security measures, Trump is delivering.