As horrible as the past few months have been for the world, there are lessons that should be retained as we move forward into a time that is less dominated by a global pandemic.
The pandemic taught us about inequities in access to health care, variation in susceptibility to environmental crises, disparities in access to technology, cultural variations in support for community, and a host of other features of our society ever-present but not consistently salient to most.
In the United States, we were exposed to the inner workings of emergency, health, education, food, and housing infrastructure. We were taught the dependencies of our day-to-day lives on global trade and supply chains that cross many nation-state boundaries.
If we were paying attention, we also got a glimpse into a cadre of fellow residents who before were faceless and unknown to us. You cannot read about the performance of local, state, and federal government agencies without learning about the work of staff in these agencies.
A ubiquitous lawn sign around Washington neighborhoods thanks the “heroes” who are front line staff in health care delivery agencies, including my favorite, “Thank you, Dr. Fauci.” Indeed, handmade signs fill the Georgetown parking structure stairwells with such a message. Increasingly, news media have features that highlight the voice of those workers.
This is all good, but we must remember that these workers represent millions of others.
In the District of Columbia, we share residential space with thousands of federal, state, and local government workers. Over the past few years these neighbors have been subjected to media and political critiques. They have been labeled as bureaucrats that act as brakes on progress. They are called lazy. Attacks include the notion that they could not succeed in private sector firms. Indeed, their institutions are implored to act more like a business than a service delivery organization. Questions arise about why the agencies don’t “make money.”
The ethic that drives many of the staff working in these agencies is one of service. They accept the mission that it is honorable to devote one’s life to provide materials and services to the larger community. They are paid, on the whole, at levels less than comparable jobs in the private sector. Hence, their devotion to service is not rewarded financially. Their reward must be the knowledge that they serve a larger mission. They are truly people for others.
It is these staff, most of whom whose names will never to known to us, that we depend upon for our health, housing, education, and security. For many of us, the ravages of COVID and related events reminded us of these people, who usually do their work in relative obscurity.
When all goes well, we never think of them. When crises occur and their services are disrupted, we realize how important they are to our society. This time, when the troubles of a global pandemic gradually recede, I hope we continue to remember them.
Unfortunately only in difficult time the true reality can become so obvious. Thank you!
Unfortunately only in difficult time the true reality can become so obvious. Thank you!
We also learned that facts and science matter.
Well said. Thank you.