In my naïveté, I like to think that those who enter politics are motivated by some sense of altruism, a concern for the well-being of others. There are sparks of altruism in the Democratic party; their concern for the well-being of those who are financially insecure, for people who live paycheck to paycheck (are there any Republicans willing to walk the UAW picket line?), for families who need affordable childcare so they can work, for women who want autonomy over their own bodies. That altruism is more and more absent from the Republican party, where extreme members in the Freedom Caucus make implausible, vague demands, against anything “woke” (aka altruistic), acting as little more than Trump puppets, even allowing Trump to insert himself into the government shutdown fray, “demanding that Republicans defund the prosecution against him as a condition of funding the government.” No matter that the cuts the extreme Republicans seek would have little effect on reducing the deficit. And no matter that Republicans would obstruct any chance of additional revenue, seeking to reverse previously agreed-to funding for the IRS to better collect owed taxes from the rich, and to block any higher taxes for the very wealthy (both of which benefit – the Republicans politicians!). But it’s okay that federal workers will not get a paycheck, even as many will be obliged to work without pay. It’s okay that government services that many of us need will be closed down. But the Freedom Caucus members will get their paychecks, not to worry. Let them eat cake! Our democracy is supposed to be “by the people” and “for the people.” That’s where that altruism - that care for the well-being of others - needs to kick in. Yet these extremists in the Freedom Caucus are digging in their heels, willing to risk mayhem even as their demands are fuzzy and unquantifiable, motivated solely to maintain their power and influence. They are safely gerry-mandered, living in the artificial and affluent bubble of Washington, inflated by a false sense of their importance, quickly forgetting that their job is to govern “for the people,” not for themselves, and not for a failed and indicted presidential candidate. The Freedom Caucus would do better to channel all that energy and money from our tax dollars away from their inarticulate, impossible demands, away from payback investigations and impeachments and channel it toward rediscovering that sense of altruism, of the obligation to govern for the people. We are a country in dire need of politicians who are willing to talk to each other, who can disagree, but who can, ultimately, reach and honor compromises and agreements. That, I believe in my naïveté, would be the most altruistic and most beneficial way to govern for the people.