"It's Not Personal"
When efficiency trumps empathy
Note: This post was originally going to be my monthly post that is only for my paid subscribers, but it feels too important to limit. However, I deeply appreciate all you new subscribers and those supporting my writing! I’ll have some paid-only perks soon! Love, —M
I’m a sucker for watching old classic movies on rainy weekend afternoons. My husband always gets a kick out of seeing me on the couch, crying my eyes out at the sentimental scenes. I cry everytime when the boys that Goldie Hawn was raising as her own scream “You said Moms don’t leave!” as she pulls away in a limousine, finally realizing she isn’t really their Mom after a bout with amnesia in the movie Overboard. Or when Cary Grant comes to confront Deborah Kerr about why she didn’t meet him at the Empire State Building, but realizes it’s because she is paralyzed from being hit by a car in An Affair To Remember. Or when Meg Ryan waits on the bridge to finally meet her mystery email man, and sees Tom Hanks come around the corner, in You’ve Got Mail. Gosh, her face goes through all the emotions in about ten seconds. And then when she says, “I so wanted it to be you.” GAH!! Well now I’m just a big old bawl bag with snot running out of my nose. Anyone else?
Speaking of You’ve Got Mail, I was watching it last week and there was a scene that really stood out to me this time. In case you don’t know the plot of this movie, Tom Hanks plays Joe, a big business man who opens a mega book store in New York City that puts Meg Ryan’s little “shop around the corner” out of business. She is crushed. He meets with her to try and apologize and then he says, “It wasn’t personal.” To which she replies, “It wasn’t personal? It wasn’t personal?!?! I hate that phrase! All you mean by that is that it wasn’t personal to you, but it was very, very personal to me!”
Have you ever had someone say that to you? I have, and I felt the same way Meg Ryan’s character felt. It always felt very personal to me.
And what is happening in our government right now is feeling deeply personal to me and to many other Americans.
What Elon Musk and his DOGE cronies are doing to our federal government agencies may not feel personal to him, but dang… Government can’t be run like a business because businesses all work for the bottom line, making the CEO’s and stock holders richer and richer. As
recently said:“Governments do not exist to maximize profits.”
But that seems to be the way President Trump and his right-hand man Elon Musk are approaching how they are running our government right now. And it’s both heartbreaking and terrifying.
I’m all for going through all the federal agencies with a fine tooth comb to see where we can cut spending. We clearly need to do something about our national debt. Yes, let’s make some changes. But coming in like a wrecking ball, ripping people away from their jobs with no notice, shutting down agencies that are in charge of helping the most vulnerable among us, and doing it all with no empathy for those they are hurting is just, well… evil.
They don’t seem to care one bit about the families being crippled by sudden job loss. It’s ironic that the world’s richest man is ripping away income from those depending on their $50,000 a year jobs to survive. Elon may say “it’s not personal” but I’ll bet it feels very, very personal to those who just lost their jobs with no performance evaluation first.
Over 10,000 employees have been fired so far across multiple agencies. On top of that, over 75,000 employees took President Trump’s buyout offer. So we are looking at a huge reduction in government employees practically overnight. 85,000 people, many with families to support are suddenly, and with no notice, out of a job. Maybe that’s “efficient” to Musk and Trump, but it seems heartless to me. They weren’t evaluated for job-performance before their firings - they were just indiscriminately let go.
Beyond the families they are hurting right now from the firings, the trickle down effect is going to kick in soon. All Americans will feel the repercussions from public safety to health benefits and other basic services that they have come to rely on.
At the U.S. Forest Service, where some 3,400 workers are slated to be cut, wildfire prevention will be curtailed and National Forests won’t be maintained. “The public will see it this summer when campgrounds are shut down, trails aren’t maintained and bathrooms aren’t cleaned.”1
At the Department of Energy, cuts could directly impair management of a sprawling network of nuclear weapons storage and disposal sites, as well as efforts to combat nuclear terrorism around the world.2
Layoffs at the General Services Administration will affect the millions of Americans who rely on government websites such as Login.gov, the central login system for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Cuts to the FAA will “ increase the workload of a workforce already stretched thin.” “This decision did not consider the staffing needs of the FAA, which is already challenged by understaffing," David Spero, the national president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, AFL-CIO, said in a statement. “Staffing decisions should be based on an individual agency’s mission-critical needs. To do otherwise is dangerous when it comes to public safety. And it is especially unconscionable in the aftermath of three deadly aircraft accidents in the past month.”3
And veterans services and military families are being affected too:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/20/politics/military-families-federal-government-cuts/index.html
https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/cuts-veterans-affairs-dishonest-way-former-employee/
The list goes on and on of the damage being done to Americans in the name of “efficiency”.
And I’m betting it’s going to start feeling personal to more and more Americans as we see the ripple effects of this thoughtless wrecking ball. Sadly, most of the agencies targeted are ones set up to help the marginalized and needy in this country. School food programs, FEMA, veterans affairs, and medicaid are just a few.
So what do we do?
We have to use our voices against what is happening. We speak out, in person and on social media. We call our senators and congressmen. We participate in peaceful protests. We have hard conversations with those who don’t see things like we do.
And we stay kind, hopeful, loving, generous of spirit and as gracious as we can while we do all those things.
We can’t let the ugly politics of our time turn us into ugly human beings. We can’t become what we hate. We must stay true to our values, while fighting against what is becoming more and more personal to us. Because at the end of the day, I will always fight for humanity over institutions. I will fight for the marginalized against the empire.
And I will choose empathy over efficiency all day long. Because everything is personal to someone out there. Love thy neighbor.
Love to you all.. M
WHAT I’M LOVING RIGHT HOW:
BOOK: I’ve had this book, Fierce Love by Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis for a while now, but I’m just now diving into it. It’s perfect timing with all the craziness going on in the world. (FYI- I am leading a book club this spring in my home and we will be reading this book together, so if you’d like to participate, just go to www.godandmygirlfriendsministries.org/book-clubs for all the details!)
RECIPE: If you are craving something warm and hearty, but still healthy as we get through these last days of February, this is one of our favorite soups! Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Soup. (*I like to put a little sriracha sauce in mine for a little kick. Only after I pour it into my bowl. Wouldn’t recommend altering the recipe.)
SHOES: I got my first pair of Barefoot Shoes recently and so far I am LOVING them! I haven’t gotten to wear them much because they don’t feel warm enough for these cold days, but as soon as spring hits - I think they will be perfect! ! I’ve seen them advertised at prices up to $200 - but the truth is, I got mine from Temu for $10. Yes, TEN DOLLARS. *click on pic for link
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/15/trump-purges-real-world-consequences-disasters-00204475
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/15/trump-purges-real-world-consequences-disasters-00204475
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/doge/hundreds-faa-employees-let-go-trumps-mass-layoffs-continue-rcna192458
Thank you for your research, your truth telling and putting into words how so many of us feel.