Some university and nonprofit and community people in SoCal are discussing the idea of having a place where anyone could post images and very brief comments about what the US gvt shutdown is/looks and feels like to then and in their community. There are places where you can see ntl parks' fallout, or EPA lack of monitoring impact etc, or TSA, or other fed employees, or lack of critical social services etc, but how could we all share these beyond our own focus or discipline or group and compile the shared consequences?
But we're novices. Any suggestions about how and where this could be done would be much appreciated!
Hey @pataxte!! I'm glad I caught this post while it was still on the homepage, because I've been having similar questions myself. I'm pretty far removed from the federal government, and still it has had detrimental impacts on my life. For example, I applied for a job with the US Forest Service to do some pretty essential fire monitoring work, and I was told I'd hear back before Christmas, however that day never came, leaving all of my plans in flux and creating a pretty massive logistical headache. In more direct terms, a friend of mine is in the Coast Guard here in Louisiana and they're the only branch of the military left unpaid, so he's had insurance policies canceled when the payment wasn't direct deposited from his paycheck. These are very minor inconveniences compared to the majority of federal workers that are in true dire situations due to the failing government finally choosing to reveal itself as such, but I think that there's a lot of potential to gather these testimonials in an interactive storytelling format.
In addition to compiling shared consequences, I think the same tool can be used to present a consolidated list of resources for people in this situation to access. For example, there's a restaurant called Ruby Slipper in New Orleans that is offering free meals to furloughed workers. I know there's other places around the country doing the same thing, and it would be great to see them mapped!
Would you post links to the other references you mentioned? I'm trying to envision a quick and dirty way to bring this idea into reality and I think that would help me to get my thoughts straight.
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