News and Journal
By Jim Hunt for the News and Journal
Several years ago, I was driving in downtown Washington, DC and remarked to my wife that I would like to point at one of the windows in the rows of government buildings along the street and go and see what the person in that office was doing. Would they be doing some important work or would they be sitting with their feet on the desk, waiting for the clock to strike quitting time? What do all of those faceless bureaucrats do all day?
It’s a fair question. For many Americans, the term “bureaucrat” conjures images of red tape, paperwork, and inefficiency. And let’s be honest—there are plenty of government programs that deserve scrutiny, and some offices that could use a good shake-up. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll find that the work being done inside those bland government buildings often has a direct, meaningful impact on our daily lives.
Take, for instance, the Food and Drug Administration. When you open a bottle of medicine, you likely assume it’s safe and effective. That peace of mind is brought to you by a team of scientists and regulators—people who spend their days poring over clinical data, running safety tests, and holding pharmaceutical companies to account. You may never meet them, but they could be the reason your medication doesn’t come with life-threatening side effects.
Or consider the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They’re the ones crash-testing vehicles, setting safety standards, and issuing recalls. You might grumble about the cost of new car features, but the reason you’re more likely to survive a car accident today than 30 years ago is because someone in a windowless office crunched the numbers and demanded safer standards.
There are people in government who monitor air and water quality, track disease outbreaks, and maintain historic records—like the deeds to your home or the plat maps that keep your neighbor from building a garage across your property line. Try solving a boundary dispute without a government surveyor’s archived map!
And if you’re reading this column online or using your smartphone to find the nearest gas station, thank a bureaucrat. The internet was born from a government-funded research project (ARPANET), not a Silicon Valley startup. Likewise, the GPS system that guides our cars, tracks deliveries, and helps emergency services find your location was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense. Billions of devices around the world depend on these technologies every day—made possible by decades of federal investment, scientific rigor, and quiet public service.
Then there’s the less glamorous but equally critical work: ensuring businesses don’t exploit consumers, making sure bridges don’t collapse, and even safeguarding our food supply from contamination. These jobs don’t come with parades or cable news appearances. But they matter.
This isn’t to say government is perfect—far from it. Waste exists. Duplication exists. But so do thousands of civil servants who show up each day, not to get rich or famous, but to do a job that most people don’t notice—until it’s not done.
So, the next time you hear someone rail against “big government,” consider this: It’s easy to mock from the outside. It’s harder to recognize the quiet, steady work that keeps our complex society running. Not all government work is waste. Sometimes, it’s just work you don’t realize you depend on every single day.
