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Why is the Left So Ineffective at Defending Government? They May View Government Workers as Servants [1]

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Date: 2025-05-16

It is no secret that the Federal Government is being systematically taken apart by those on the right who claim that the government is taking away their freedom and burdening them with unfair taxes.

This effort is mostly sponsored by big business who have assembled a right wing army of voters who support business’ dislike of regulation as interfering with their ability to make money.

The EPA for instance has been a major regulator of automobiles and water systems to promote clean air and water quality. However, big oil is furious at such regulation. Automobile executives are not thrilled at air quality regulations either. The tobacco companies were highly profitable but lost most of their market because of court cases and regulations with strong government backing.

However, business has an unwitting ally in Progressives who have remained passive and rarely defended government institutions and workers.

This is curious since the left complains about the right in all kinds of ways, calling them unfair, immoral, greedy, corrupt, fascist, etc.

How can we explain the left’s silence, passivity, and lack of enthusiastic support for government?

One explanation is that there is a seeming class divide between those who serve and those who receive services. Being in “government service” or being a civil servant is commonly used to describe those who work in the government.

But in the British class system, servants were often viewed with disdain and had very low social status and little personal or group power to affect society. The aristocracy traditionally had almost no respect for them, and their opinions and needs were of little concern. This is the classic “upstairs, downstairs” mentality.

Of course, we are supposed to be a classless society in America but the way government workers are being treated today, and their lack of defenders indicates that like English servants, they also deserve little respect or concern.

Their jobs are eliminated, and they are fired as if they were old horses no longer of use. They are sent to the glue factory or to be turned into pet food. They are often viewed as inefficient hangers-on sucking up resources and a (formerly) necessary evil producing little value for society.

Now those getting or using Medicare, Social Security, free public education, student loans, street and highways, clean water, trash removal, FEMA disaster aid, military and VA services, air traffic control, and a thousand other benefits have come to just expect them.

This is an example of the “entitlement” that the right hates so much. Government workers are like workers at a restaurant where customers expect a waiter to arrive promptly, take orders, bring food, clean up, take payment, and then disappear.

That the payment comes out of taxes makes the relationship a bit different because it is unclear if the payment is fair or unfair. There is ambiguity there and perhaps the user of services is being cheated. Perhaps someone else is paying less and getting more.

And because most of these services are only of benefit to a portion of the population, they can be eliminated without the rest of the population noticing.

It is a divide and conquer strategy to destroy government services and benefits by the wealthy. This was done when they began to dominate political discourse following the Citizens United supreme court decision which allowed them to make unlimited donations to political campaigns.

Anyone getting a government benefit can be criticized for government dependence (being a “welfare queen”) by those not receiving that service. Ginning up resentment and jealousy is key to the right’s plan to eliminate most government services and regulations which now primarily benefit the middle class and the poor.

So, the answer to defending and maintaining the government and its workers is to reset the status relationship between those who serve and those who receive services.

But few seem to want to give up their feelings of class superiority. Southerners enjoyed a much bigger class divide during slavery prior to the Civil War. Many still resent their loss of status generations later after the slaves were freed and they lost their lowly servant class. The US government was the enemy in this drama and this same attitude remains for many.

I do not see a wave of appreciation and support coming from progressives as government departments are targeted and eliminated.

From my observation, the push-back has been meager to nonexistent with some seemingly loud but unfocused objections at town halls.

Few still seem to care much about servants — especially those who use tax dollars to sometimes receive pensions and healthcare when private sector workers do not.

But vocal appreciation and support is what is required to let politicians know that government and government workers are valuable, needed, and essential.

These services are often what makes life worth living in the US. They are the difference between living in an advanced and caring society versus regressing to living in the developing or third world with its pervasive hunger, poverty and chaos.

I believe progressives must reexamine their relationship with government workers and give them the respect and support they deserve. This will involve shedding class distinctions of served and server and shouting from the rooftops about the greatness of government to family, friends, community groups, and politicians at every opportunity.

Almost Everyone has a story about the helpfulness of government, and they need to start sharing these stories over and over.

A groundswell of support is needed to shout down the all-pervading hatred of government by powerful right-wing propaganda-focused media organizations and their right wing supporters.

I do not yet see such vocal support developing, but one can always dream.

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