Gongol.com Archives: July 2025
July 6, 2025
Dramatic cuts to portions of the Federal government -- like a likely 40% reduction in the IRS workforce and nearly 20% reductions at NOAA -- have been implemented via both executive actions and the passage of a large tax bill through Congress. Whether those cuts will prove to be prudent or foolhardy remains to be seen. Likewise, whether they prove to be lasting remains to be seen. They are, however, generally here to stay for at least a year or more to come. ■ Under these conditions, it becomes more important than at any time in living memory for people of goodwill and good intentions to join, identify with, and engage in the professional (and quasi-professional) organizations within their areas of expertise. Nearly everyone has at least some subject matter on which they are specialized and can speak with some degree of authority. ■ Workforce reductions at the Federal level are likely to provoke a coming absence of regulatory and statutory guidance on important matters. On some of those matters, state and local governments will still need to know what represents the state of the art. Private-sector actors, like businesses and non-profit organizations, will also need access to the best possible advice. ■ As a country, we have grown accustomed to much of this guidance coming from the Federal government. In some cases, we may have become too reliant. In others, we may come to regret its absence. But in either case, good people need to step forward in a professional or semi-professional capacity to help advise the public as to what's best. ■ We will need expertise from technology experts and engineers, accountants and economists, transportation planners and air traffic controllers. This input has always been useful, but across many domains, the need for thoughtful input from societies dedicated to educational and research activities has almost certainly never been greater. ■ Not every occupation is a profession -- professionals, to be precise, have specialized knowledge and subscribe to some form of ethical code that requires them to put the public interest ahead of self-interest, as when dentists encourage the use of fluoride (a clear case of argument against self-interest). ■ But many occupations have organizations that act mainly to advance the state of the art rather than to line the pockets of their members, and these are the organizations needed most right now. We may even benefit most from a robust set of overlapping and sometimes even competitive organizations (like the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association), since competition often has a sharpening effect, and because the resulting joint statements among them often strengthen the cases being made. ■ The ecosystem for good institutions should be lively and well-populated. Increasing complexity is an irreversible factor in most disciplines, and our private activities ought to reflect the importance of honing expert opinions in all of those fields. The first step is for as many good people as possible to get involved wherever they have the best judgment to offer.
