We have no control over the API that we draw from. We are drawing from the API of a different company. I wish they didn't use JSON. If they have to use JSON, I wish they at least enforced a consistent schema. But they don't. And that is why static type checking fails: because the real world is chaotic, and when you have to interact with that real world, you are often forced to do so dynamically, because of the mistakes that other companies have made. The real world is dynamic.