By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

“Government, at its core, is responsible for maintaining order, providing essential services, and ensuring the well-being of its citizens through various functions like law enforcement, infrastructure, and social programs.” – Google AI
I’m careful when reading AI definitions to make certain that the information is correct, but, in this case, Google AI and I are basically in agreement: the purpose of government is to care for its citizens. That means we are willing to have some restrictions placed on our behavior in exchange for the government passing laws and taking actions that protect our well-being. In simple terms, that means we obey traffic laws, pay taxes and refrain from stealing or assaulting others, etc., in exchange for the government protecting us from those who would harm us or create situations that would be dangerous for our well-being, including, but not limited to, laws protecting our food supply. 
I originally thought of this in early January after reading an article that spoke about the increase in the food recalls that had taken place last year: We expect the government to help keep our food supply safe. According to the USA Today Network article, people now have less trust in the government to keep our food safe than they did in prior years. Underlying this is the expectation that government agencies will be informed about food related illnesses through hospitals and members of the medical profession, and have the resources to track the problem to its source so that food can be recalled and warnings spread to stop the illnesses and deaths caused by the problem. The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for making this happen.
However, it’s not just food for which the Food and Drug Administration is responsible. According to www.fda.gov/about-fda, “more than 18,000 FDA employees work in all 50 states and internationally to ensure the safety and effectiveness of human and veterinary medicines, biologics, and medical devices. We also regulate the safety of food, cosmetics, devices that emit radiation, and tobacco products.” Well, at least they used to: in February, the Trump administration ordered the agency to slash the number of those working for it.
Let me make that clear: in the midst of increasing problems with the safety of our food, the Trump administration has tried to cut back the number of people working to keep the citizens of the United States safe, healthy and alive. There has been some reversal of these firings, but that shouldn’t deter us from noting that these people and those in other government agencies who work to protect our citizens have had their jobs cut in massive layoffs. This is not careful consideration about how to make the government more efficient: this is a clear lack of caring about our social contract with the government. 
Lack of staff means fewer people to track food-related illnesses. It means longer time frames for approving life-saving drugs. It means the end of some life saving actions. It means the safety of American citizens is less relevant to the current administration than cost-cutting measures that break our social contract.
However, it’s already quite clear that the Trump administration is less interested in helping citizens of our country than following its own agenda. The Republican party has told its members not to hold town hall meetings because it knows that citizens are angry: these government cuts were not what people voted for. Most of the promises made by the current president during his campaign have not been realized. The economic repercussions of jobs lost, in addition the problems caused by tariffs, are yet to be determined, but few analysts offer positive outlooks.
Perhaps I worry more about this because I grew up reading books about the Great Depression given to me by my father, who lived through that time period. That depression was one of the reasons we have social programs, partly because so many men were unable to serve in the army in World War II due to the deprivations caused by the depression. Another depression is preventable and our representatives – those from both parties – need to stand up for what is best for our country and live up to the social contract that governs us.