A bit of anger, a bit of sadness, a bit of wondering where this is all going
As part of the recent tumult in US politics, Trump/Musk/DOGE recently laid off all the staff at 18F, essentially shuttering the agency and with it destroying years of digital experience in government.
18F may not mean a lot to many of you, but it means tons to anyone who has worked in public service, particularly in the part of public service focused on building digital skills and capacity in government. They were one of the groups we took inspiration from when building the Ontario Digital Service almost a decade ago; the first leader of the ODS, Hillary Hartley, was an 18F alumnus.
Dismantling 18F, like dissolving the ODS here, is a clear indication by the political powers that they are more interested in pursuing their own power than investing in making government better. It’s a decision borne of ignorance, but also malice: instead of improving and upgrading the capacity of civil service, political leaders feel threatened and make things worse.
Right now, I’m mostly just angry that, one year after they tore down the ODS (the creation of which was one of the crowning achievements of my career), the agency from which we drew our inspiration was shut down too. There is a concerted effort across the world to tear down the public service, and this is proof of that effort. It breaks my heart that so many excellent people have lost their livelihoods because of the decisions of people who don’t care about serving the public.
A few pieces you should read about the dismantling of 18F and the USDS and other parts of public service:
- Things that are happening, by Sean Boots
- Deleting 18F, by Hillary Hartley
- Burning, 18F, and change, by Lucas Cherkewski
- Moving on from 18F, by Ethan Marcotte
- Skilled technologists are being forced out of government, by Don Moynihan
- A reflection by Lyndsay Young
- A Bluesky thread by Dan Hon
This past week, I wrote a letter to my city councillor and the mayor to ask them to stop using X/Twitter for official city communication. The reasons are obvious (and I go into them in my letter), but I didn’t expect many people to read it or even respond.
Surprisingly, the letter got some attention, and I was asked to be on CBC Radio’s London Morning to talk about it; it also led to a couple of articles on the CBC and the London Free Press. I’m not ecstatic about being the face for this, but I’m glad people are talking about it. If you live in London, please write to your city councillor too—or, if you don’t, consider how your own city uses X/Twitter and if there’s an opportunity to convince them to stop.
A poem
A Litany for Survival
Audre Lorde
For those of us who live at the shoreline
standing upon the constant edges of decision
crucial and alone
for those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice
who love in doorways coming and going
in the hours between dawns
looking inward and outward
at once before and after
seeking a now that can breed
futures
like bread in our children's mouths
so their dreams will not reflect
the death of ours;
For those of us
who were imprinted with fear
like a faint line in the center of our foreheads
learning to be afraid with our mother's milk
for by this weapon
this illusion of some safety to be found
the heavy-footed hoped to silence us
For all of us
this instant and this triumph
We were never meant to survive.
And when the sun rises we are afraid
it might not remain
when the sun sets we are afraid
it might not rise in the morning
when our stomachs are full we are afraid
of indigestion
when our stomachs are empty we are afraid
we may never eat again
when we are loved we are afraid
love will vanish
when we are alone we are afraid
love will never return
and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid
So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive.
Some links
I’ve linked to a piece about Ezra Edelman’s 9-hour documentary about Prince (the one that will never be seen by the public, sadly) before, but Ezra recently went on the Pablo Torre podcast to talk about the documentary and it’s well worth a listen.
“I believe that the single most effective way that city governments could improve their ability to recruit and retain talented technology employees is to eliminate residency requirements for IT staff.” As a fully-remote worker in the public service who can’t really take on new roles because they all require coming into the office regularly, I was really struck by—and wholeheartedly agree with—Mark Headd’s contention that we should remove residency requirements for public service workers in IT or IT-adjacent roles (and maybe all non-public-facing roles?). If we want our public service to thrive, we should be able to hire the best people no matter where they live.
Speaking of remote work, I was intrigued by this piece by Yoni Appelbaum in The Atlantic outlining how Americans (and I’m assuming Canadians as well) are much less mobile than we once were. I didn’t quite agree with most of the conclusions—many of them left-blaming—that he arrives at in the article, but it was interesting to see how he based his thesis on blaming the lack of mobility on Jane Jacobs, someone whom you rarely see critiqued in popular criticism these days.
If you live in New York, go check out the Amy Sherald exhibit at The Whitney and tell me all about it.
Can’t get a lot of these brands in Canada (though we are big fans of Conservas de Combados) but if you have access to any of these excellent tins of fish, do enjoy them—and again, tell me all about it.
“Be an adult. Own your garbage.“ A beautiful rumination by Craig amid about consumption, waste, and how we treat the detritus of the things we use every day.
This Instagram reel made me laugh out loud. (Especially funny if you have sleep apnea like I do.)
My friend Meegs sent me this incredible set by Reggie Watts on The Lot Radio, and if you’re looking for some great music to work to one afternoon — or just sit there and watch the artistry on the video, too — I highly recommend it.
I read this post on Mastodon recently and made me think of why I still believe in the social web: one of my favorite parts of the social web (blogs, mostly, but even on social media platforms) is the ability to learn about people’s achievements, goals, interests, passions, ideas, and the things that motivate them to live the lives they lead. More of that sharing, please. I want to know all about what makes you happy, what makes you proud, what makes you think, what helped you learn.