Government Lockdown in USA.
It is 33 days since the Government lock down is going on in the USA. Reason is that no budget could be passed. It is not due to lack of Corum or lack of majority. Republicans have 53 out of 100 votes. It happened due to filibuster rule.
What Is a Filibuster?
A filibuster is a Senate rule that lets the minority block legislation by extending debate indefinitely. It is freedom of speech to the maximum extent. The original idea was simple. If you opposed a bill strongly enough, you could stand on the Senate floor and talk until you collapsed. Your speech would delay the vote. Maybe you’d persuade someone. Maybe you’d force a compromise. It required endurance.
The term “filibuster” originates from the Dutch word for “pirate,” evoking the idea of hijacking the legislative process. Strom Thurmond spoke for 24 hours straight in 1957 against the Civil Rights Act. He wore a diaper. He nearly died. That was a real hijack of proceedings. A real filibuster.
To stop filibuster, the Senate needs 60 votes for “cloture”. This is a vote to end debate and move forward. With only 51 votes, the majority can’t overcome a determined minority willing to keep talking.
But something changed. Nobody talks anymore. Now you just threaten to filibuster. File paperwork. The threat alone triggers the 60-vote requirement. No speeches needed. No effort required. The Senate kept the rule but stripped out the struggle.
The Current Shutdown
The U.S. government has been shut down for 33 days. Not because anyone is speaking. Nobody’s on the Senate floor giving marathon speeches. Democrats threatened to talk indefinitely. Republicans responded by not holding votes. Result? 800,000 federal workers go unpaid. National parks close. Food inspections halt. All without a single word spoken. The chamber sits mostly empty. Welcome to the most advanced democracy. Talking is assumed without any actual talk.
How It Became a Ghost
The filibuster used to cost something. Physical exhaustion. Public scrutiny. Your constituents watching you stand for hours. Now it costs nothing. You file paperwork from your office. The bill dies. Everyone goes home. The Senate stripped out the struggle but kept the gridlock. They sanitized the obstruction. 47 senators can block 53 indefinitely without speaking. The system just declares bills dead based on vote counts.
The Star Trek Parallel
There’s an old Star Trek episode called “A Taste of Armageddon.” Two planets fight a 500-year war entirely by computer simulation. The computer calculates casualties. Citizens whose numbers come up walk calmly into disintegration chambers and die. No explosions. No blood. Very civilized.
Captain Kirk calls them insane. They’ve made war so clean and painless they’ve forgotten how to stop.
The Senate did the same thing. They made obstruction so easy they’ve forgotten it’s absurd. Real people suffer off-camera in scattered locations. But because no senator has to stand and talk for 33 days, because the suffering happens quietly, the system keeps running.
Both systems removed the visceral feedback that would force them to quit.
The Jain Meal Principle
Their is another story about similar absurdity. A Jain passenger on an American airline ordered Jain vegetarian food. They served him roasted turkey. His complaint: “How is this Jain vegetarian?”
Their response: “No garlic or onion in the cooking.”
They followed the technical detail. They missed the fundamental principle of vegetarian food.
The Senate does the same. They preserved “unlimited debate” as constitutional tradition. But they removed the actual debate. No one speaks. The principle is honored. The reality is dead.
Why Not Bust the Filibuster?
President Trump wants it gone. He’s posted repeatedly: “END THE FILIBUSTER NOW.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune refuses. Other Republicans agree. They call it “a bulwark against bad things.” The real reason? They want it available when they’re in the minority next time. Democrats do too. Both parties preserve the comfortable version for their future use. Hijacking the proceedings without actual hijack. Like children play “Statue”. One says and other has to stay still to emulate a statue.
Make them actually filibuster. Force the 47 Democrats to stand and speak. For real. You want to block this bill? Get on the floor and talk until you collapse. They would last three days. Maybe five with perfect rotation. The threat only works because it costs nothing.
Make it cost something. That kills the absurdity without changing the rules. But neither party will do it. They both benefit from the sanitized version. They are both playing for the gallery oops people.
The Bottom Line
The filibuster is a rule where nobody has to do anything, and that inaction paralyzes an entire government. It’s death by simulation. Bills die in silence. Workers lose paychecks. Parks close. All because 47 people filed paperwork.
The turkey had no garlic or onion. Kirk watches people kill themselves. The filibuster preserves unlimited debate without actual debate. All technically correct but completely insane.
And it is maintained because the people running the system benefit from not thinking too hard.