Scrambling to replace their health insurance and to find new work, some fired federal workers are running into another unexpected unpleasantry: Relatives cheering their job loss.

Summary

Recently terminated federal workers face not only unemployment challenges but also hurtful reactions from family members who support the government cuts.

Luke Tobin, fired from the Forest Service, and Kristin Jenn, whose Park Service job was frozen, describe relatives celebrating their job losses as necessary to “make the government great again.”

Former Park Service employee Riley Rackliffe encountered social media comments calling him a “glorified pool boy” despite his Ph.D.

Some workers report family members unfriending them on social media or dismissing their positions as “waste.”

  • @motor_spirit
    10•2 days ago

    We need to take the same approach with family that the country should be taking with red states: ignore their existence and make them pay for their stupidity and mismanagement. Make them admit wrongdoing, be accountable, and prove they’re progressing in the proper direction(s). Perpetuating their mental health and disinformation campaigns or engaging them to provide their petty platform is a similar enabling of addicts. Make them live what they’ve constructed and ignore their perceived issues. Once these people turn inward, on a large scale, then perhaps healing can begin but the country can’t heal with a bunch of mental issues baked into a large amount of US lives