The Government Cathedral: Why Reforming DC is like Reforming Rome

Think of Washington D.C. as America’s Vatican. Every day, government workers carry thick rulebooks like priests carry Bibles. Politicians quote the Constitution like preachers quote scripture. Even the buildings, with their huge white domes and marble columns, look like cathedrals. This isn’t just for show – our government actually works a lot like a religion.

Picture this: The President is like America’s Pope. Congress is like a group of cardinals making big decisions. The Supreme Court judges are like religious leaders deciding what’s right and wrong based on our sacred text – the Constitution. Even the way we treat these people and places shows it’s all kind of religious. We stand when judges enter rooms, just like people stand in church. We take oaths on the Constitution, just like religious oaths on the Bible.

The Washington Monument is our modern-day temple. The National Mall is our holy ground. When the President gives the State of the Union speech, it’s like a national church service – everyone stops to watch. Our Founding Fathers? They’re like American saints. We build monuments to them and tell stories about their wisdom.

Here’s the interesting part: There’s a new Department Of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.) trying to make government more efficient. They want to count everything, measure everything, make everything run like a smooth business. But here’s the problem – you can’t measure faith with a calculator. You can’t put a price tag on tradition. Trying to make government purely efficient is like trying to speed up a wedding ceremony – some things need their proper time and respect.

Think about what happened when people tried to completely change religions in the past. When Henry VIII tried to quickly change England’s religion, it caused huge problems. When France tried to replace religion with pure logic during their revolution, people fought back. Even when the Soviet Union tried to eliminate religion, people just practiced in secret.

So how do we make government work better without causing a crisis of faith? Here’s the smart approach:

1. Start Small and Smart
   • Focus on newer offices (like those created post 9/11) people don’t have strong feelings about
   • Combine offices that do the same job (like having 15 different food safety offices)
   • Use technology to make things better, not just cheaper
   • Wait for natural changes like retirements instead of forcing cuts
2. Keep the Important Stuff
   • Keep the ceremonies people care about
   • Maintain the symbols that make people feel secure
   • Preserve the traditions that bring people together
   • Save money behind the scenes where people won’t notice
3. Make Changes Feel Natural
   • Present changes as “getting back to basics” not “making cuts”
   • Talk about “modernizing” instead of “reducing”
   • Show how changes make government work better for everyone
   • Keep the parts people can see while fixing things they can’t

Some Real-Life Examples To Go By:

Think about how banks have changed. Your local bank might have closed some branches, but they kept the ATMs and added better online banking. You actually get more services, even though they reduced their physical presence. Government can work the same way – better service with less waste.

Or think about your smartphone. It replaced your alarm clock, calculator, camera, dictaphone and many other gadgets. But you didn’t lose anything – you got something better. Smart government reform works the same way: combining things to work better, not just to cut costs.

Putting It All Together

The trick is to understand that government isn’t just an organization – it’s something many people believe in deeply. When people visit the Lincoln Memorial, they’re not just looking at a big statue. They’re connecting with something they consider sacred. When they watch Congress debate, they’re not just watching a meeting. They’re seeing their beliefs in action.

Smart reform means knowing the difference between necessary tradition and needless bureaucracy. It’s like how modern churches might use computers and video screens, but they keep their core traditions. Government can become more efficient while still maintaining the ceremonies and symbols that give people faith in the system.

The Bottom Line

Making government work better isn’t about slash-and-burn cost-cutting. It’s about carefully updating an institution that many people hold sacred. Just like religions have adapted through the ages while keeping their core beliefs, government can become more efficient while preserving what makes it special.

Think of it like renovating a historic church. You might add air conditioning and better lighting, but you wouldn’t tear down the stained glass windows or remove the altar. The same goes for government – update the machinery while preserving the meaning.

When we understand government this way – as both an organization and a belief system – we can make it work better without breaking what makes it work at all. That’s not just smart management. That’s respecting both progress and tradition, efficiency and faith, change and stability.

The future of better government isn’t in treating it like a business that only cares about numbers. It’s in understanding it’s more like a modern church – keeping its core purpose while carefully adapting to serve people better in today’s world.

This is how real change happens – not by forcing it, but by respecting what matters while carefully improving what can work better. That’s not just reform. That’s renaissance.

Dave Ramaswamy is an independent commentator on geopolitics and strategic affairs.