This Post Is Different

It’s not about what we do on the farm, riparian buffers, or our comical journey with the electric car. It’s different because our country is in a whirlpool of negative chaos, and I’m down a couple of notches on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Forget about the trees in the buffer; I’m worried about democracy. Nikki Hailey was right. Donald Trump, our new president, brings chaos every day.

The Trump administration causes negative chaos every day. It’s like a whirlpool, dragging everything down. Photo credit Shutterstock

The United States has never seen an administration this abysmal. It has never seen an administration so devoid of compassion. It has never seen cabinet members so unqualified for their jobs. It has never seen such a blitzkrieg destruction of federal governance or a Congress so inept at stopping it. It has never seen so many people unable or unwilling to distinguish truth from lies. It is, indeed, chaos every day.

I seek the truth and try to think positive. It’s very hard to do these days.

So, from the heart, here goes.

I Was a Federal Bureaucrat for 31 Years

I worked at the field office level of USDA throughout Virginia and was a first-line supervisor for 26 of those years. I served under Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. I’ll be 70 years old this year, and I have never witnessed an administration that is as cruel and unbecoming of an American as this one.

My heart goes out to all government employees, especially those federal workers who were fired, laid off, or retired under duress. They served our country with dignity and professionalism. I am so sorry that this administration has falsely tainted their reputations. I thank them for their service.

Diversity Strengthens All Systems

It doesn’t matter what Trump or anyone else believes: Diversity strengthens all systems. It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about a team of people, a stock portfolio, or an ecosystem. I’m not going to erase diversity, equity, or inclusion from my thoughts, actions, or my website.

The Truth Is Always There … Somewhere

It doesn’t matter what they said. It happened. I saw it with my own eyes. The truth is still there, no matter how many lies they tell. Russia invaded Ukraine. Trump is a convicted felon. Trump lost the 2020 election; it was not stolen. Coal is dirty. Natural gas is methane. Renewable energy is good. Cows in the stream cause pollution.

Ukraine was invaded by Russia. Photo credit Shutterstock.

Empirical Data Does Not Lie

It doesn’t matter what you believe: Climate change is happening. Sea-level rise is real. Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay and many barrier islands all over the world are disappearing. I see it with my own eyes. Dude, do you believe in empirical data? Science. Data is data. When I was born in 1955, the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide was 313 parts per million. In May of 2024 it was 426.7 parts per million. Carbon dioxide is the primary driver of the climate crisis causing warmer weather and rising seas. Climate scientists stress that the concentration needs to be below 350 parts per million. These are facts not alternative facts.

Tangier Island has lost two-thirds of its land since 1850 due to sea level rise and land subsidence. Photo credit Shutterstock

Government Service Is Not for Profit

Government service is different from anything for profit. When private industry attempts to perform government service, it is almost always much more expensive. Go ahead and research it yourself. A good example is the privatization of the prison system in Virginia. That effort was a total failure: prisons were less secure, more expensive, and overcrowded—with dismal conditions.

Private Industry Couldn’t Do It for That Price

I witnessed firsthand decades ago when the administration tried to privatize the jobs our field technicians did designing and implementing soil conservation work on private farmland for the Natural Resources Conservation Service. When their work was put out to bid, no private company, not even one, could perform what the NRCS technicians did for what the government paid our technicians. It wasn’t even close.

NRCS Technicians design and layout contour farming practices like these to reduce soil erosion and improve soil health. Photo credit Shutterstock

I remember when NRCS outsourced the procurement of survey stakes one year. The project ended up costing twice as much and the quality was poor. The wooden stakes, shipped from Michigan to Virginia, were made from cedar trees. Cows easily destroyed them, because the wood is weak and brittle, making us lay out a job more than once. How’s that for improving efficiency?

Always Try to Do More With Less

There is always room for improvement. That goes for private industry and the government as well. I was a bureaucrat for over 30 years, and we were always, always, seeking ways to be more efficient and to do more with less. We had to. Field staff was being cut almost every year, and at the same time, we were expected to do more.

Destroy Fraud, Not Agencies

There is a chance there will be waste or fraud in any business or government agency. I read about fraud in the private business sector almost daily. And yes, there is fraud in the government, too. I remember well, decades ago, when I was sent to a county in Southside, Virginia, to investigate contractor fraud in one of our field offices.

I found it, and the agency dealt with swiftly. But we didn’t do away with the agency because of one instance of fraud. Trump is dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development claiming fraud and waste. USAID did worthy things all over the world to lift people from poverty and to reach out the hand of mercy from the United States.

USAID logo. Photo credit Shutterstock

States and Nonprofits Must Do More

Nonprofits and state governments will now have to fill in the voids left by the reduction, dismantling, and destruction of federal agencies. Reducing poverty, improving health care, water and air quality, pursuing environmental justice, providing education—you name the issue, we will have to address it by ourselves with integrity, purpose, and compassion.

I Like Boring Politics, Not Chaos

I do not like political chaos every day. We shouldn’t have to worry about our freedoms and our pursuit of happiness. I long for the days when the most compelling thing I have to write about is the birth of our first calf or the arrival of the first Tree Swallow or how sweet the first tomato sandwich of the season tastes. But today, I have to use my writer’s voice to push back against the chaos and blatant lies. As the late congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis said, “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.”

The post The Whirlpool of Negative Chaos, The Truth, and Good Governance appeared first on Getting More on the Ground.