perspectives

On the morning of October 1st, 2025, as the first budget deadline of the fiscal year passed, the U.S. federal government once again shut down. Congress had failed to approve spending bills to keep the government running, an event that has become as predictable as it is damaging. This year’s shutdown is not simply about dollars and cents; it is about identity, strategy, and the politics of spectacle. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed, paychecks are halte