This shutdown of govt has at least some benefit. The way of life that has manifested in the USA, at least for the last few decades, is that the masses/middle

This shutdown of govt has at least some benefit. The way of life that has manifested in the USA, at least for the last few decades, is that the masses/middle class is just too busy to be active citizens. They barely get to getting out and voting every two or four years let alone have the time to understand what’s going on within their govt. Meanwhile corporations and people in position of power (who have the masses working for them and hence have the time to do what they want) are able to devote resources (time or money or both) to influence the govt. the result is, for the large part, a govt of the (rich/ powerful) people for the the (rich/powerful) people. Finally, the final state of the system like this is always one of polarization because the only people who come out to vote (given it’s so hard to vote) are the ones that care radically about a point or a position. Ironically the politicians they will get will also be the ones that cater to these people who have deeply held strong beliefs. Net net you get something that is on either end of the spectrum and not something that is “centrist”. The only time this changes is that the troubles are soo bad that more people become active citizens and vote for a (usually when objectively looked a opposite but somewhat extreme) position. But this is temporary as the system will regress to the mean (polarization in this case) unless the fundamental shift of active citizenry takes place. And for that you need a radically different environment where people have time for it and the govt actually makes it easy to be a active citizen. Net net, this shutdown will hurt people enough to take a position - where this guy doesnt get a second term. (Again an extreme response to a extreme situation when you look at it objectively).