The Shutdown Is a Symptom of a Centuries-Long Pendulum
do we admit the game has changed—and that survival isn’t the goal anymore?
I live in the DC metro area. When the government sneezes, we don’t just catch a cold—we get the bill.
Layoffs, severances, and now another shutdown threat. But this isn’t just “politics as usual.” It’s the latest swing of a very old pendulum: freedom → control → freedom → control.
The names and colors change; the script doesn’t.
The American Pendulum (From the Beginning)
Founding Whiplash (1787–1791): Federalists wanted a stronger center; Anti-Federalists feared consolidated power. The compromise was a Constitution plus a Bill of Rights—liberty hedged by guardrails.
Reconstruction → “Redemption” (1865–1877): A brief expansion of Black political rights slammed into backlash, court rollbacks, and Jim Crow. Expansion, then contraction.
Gilded Age (1870s–1900s): Explosive growth and historic inequality; fortunes soared while labor fought for oxygen. Sound familiar?
New Deal (1930s): Crisis forced a swing toward social protection and stronger federal action. Relief, regulation, and safety nets.
Red Scares/McCarthyism (1940s–50s): Fear made repression fashionable; liberties contracted until public backlash restored sanity.
Post-9/11 Security State: The PATRIOT Act normalized extraordinary powers; “temporary” tools have a habit of sticking.
Zoom out globally and you see the same tide: after a late-20th-century wave of democratization, the 2010s onward brought a long slide toward concentration of power.
Multiple monitors now log year-over-year declines in rights and rule of law—leaders keep testing how far they can bend the rules.
The Two Sides of the Pendulum—With Real Countries as Mirrors
When the pendulum swings toward control (to the right)
Weimar Germany → Nazi Totalitarianism (1933).
India’s Emergency (1975–77).
Russia (2000s→).
Turkey (2016→).
Hungary (2010→).
What people feel: policy whiplash, rights shrinkage, fear-driven “order,” and widening wealth gaps as insiders face fewer brakes.
When the pendulum swings back toward freedom (to the left)
Spain after 1975 (democracy after dictatorship).
Chile 1990→ (plebiscite + institutions).
South Korea 1987 (mass protests force elections).
Taiwan 1987→ (martial law lifted, competitive elections).
What people feel: more voice, more avenues to build wealth beyond insider ties, and institutions that outlast leaders.
What These Cycles Do to People’s Wealth and Choices
Short term: volatility—contracts paused, rules rewritten, layoffs hit the least protected first.
Long term: when institutions tilt “extractive,” wealth compounds at the top while wages stall; mobility falls, and so does trust.
The Rulebook No One’s Playing Anymore
The system still says: Get the stable job, climb the ladder. But the ladder has been on fire for decades.
So what’s left?
Do we line up at Chipotle, making minimum wage while rent doubles?
Or do we admit the game has changed—and that survival isn’t the goal anymore?
Freedom is.
Anger As a Compass
This is not the time to numb out. It’s time to get angry.
Anger is clarity.
It shows you what you will no longer tolerate.
Let’s say that one more time - anger shows you what you will no longer tolerate.
But anger without direction eats you alive.
That’s why you need a framework to channel it.
I created The Fulfillment Matrix & Crisis Ranking System for exactly this reason. Think of it like a GPS for your peace and prosperity—so you can rank what matters most instead of drowning in chaos.
Pair it with my free Career Clarity Checklist, and you’ll have both the compass and the map.
Mini Forecast: What the Future Might Hold (and How to Prepare)
Three plausible paths:
1. Slow Grind (baseline): stop-start budgets, contract work expands.
2. Clampdown (risk): more “emergency” rules, heavier platform control.
3. Resilience Turn (opportunity): public and private money flow to “hard problems” (infra, climate, health, AI safety).
Here are my loving suggestions to you for your short and long-term moves…
Short-term moves (next 90 days)
Pay down high-interest debt. Credit cards, then student loans. Every dollar you free up buys flexibility.
Build a mini-emergency fund. Even $500–$1,000 softens a shock.
Warm your network. Reach out to 10–20 people who already know your work.
Create one simple offer. Problem → solution → price.
Long-term moves (6–18 months)
Diversify your income. Mix retainers with one-off offers or products.
Own your platform. Grow your email list; it’s safer than social media.
Turn your process into a framework. Name it. Document it. Sell it.
Keep building the buffer. Aim for 3–6 months of expenses—your freedom fund.
We can’t calm the pendulum, but we can read it—and build businesses and make moves that benefit from the swing instead of getting crushed by it.
For the Spiritually Inclined
For those of us who lean on mystery, faith, or the unseen, take these words and make them part of your prayers, mantras, journaling, or meditation—whatever you do to center yourself.
If I were the universe speaking to you right now, I would sound something like this:
🌌 “You don’t have to know the how.”
I already have other openings, people, ideas moving toward you. Just because you can’t see the map yet doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Your job right now is to stay present, breathe, and take the kindest actions you can for yourself.
🌌 “Trust the timing.”
Your body waking early, your cycle slowing you down, the trains delaying you, the contract ending — all of these currents are me slowing you, steering you, creating a rhythm where you can hear yourself again.