We like to think that ‘the government’ is in any way any combination of sane, shrewd, or smart. As if it’s this entity that has its own mind.

I’ve worked with various Australian federal government agencies for ten years now. Three years ago we moved to the capital, Canberra.

It turns out ‘the government’ is just a bunch of people who happen to live in this one city. They’re as average as the rest of us. They were born here because their parents live here and these are the jobs here so that’s what they do.

In fact few outsiders come here because the city is famously boring. [0]

The mystery is why we would think that this group of people were any different from the rest of us.

[0]: Actually it’s a charming little town. Don’t tell anybody.