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Entry bubble Happy Birthday, GovGab! When I was One…

By: Joanne | September 23, 2008 | Category: General

Baby Joanne holding a teddy bear, sitting on her father's lap.Light your incense and get out your love beads, because we’re getting into the way-back machine to travel to 1968. Our country was at war in Vietnam, there was unrest on our college campuses, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. were assassinated, and Richard Nixon was elected president.

“Hey Jude” by The Beatles and “Love Child” by Diana Ross & The Supremes and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” by Marvin Gaye all made it to #1 on the Billboard chart. “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” by Iron Butterfly was in the top 40 and Oliver!, based on the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

When I look back, I see that there are many things in government that happened that we take for granted today. The Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in the sale and rental of housing, became law. Apollo 8’s three man crew was the first to orbit the moon (we didn’t land on the moon until Apollo 11 in 1969). And the network of scenic, historic, and recreation trails was created by the National Trails System Act of 1968.

Back in 1968, if you wanted to contact the government, you had to physically go to the specific office, write a letter, or make a telephone call—probably long distance. If you didn't know which federal agency to contact, you just had to take a guess and hope whoever you reached would be helpful, and know something about which agency did what. That is, unless you were lucky enough to live in one of the seven cities that had a Federal Information Center. Then you could make a local call, or visit the Center in person, and a trained Information Specialist would help you get to the right office. In 2008, the Federal Information Center program has grown into a nationwide government information service that you can reach by calling 1 (800) FED INFO. That's 1 (800) 333-4636, and information agents are available to answer your questions in English or Spanish from 8 AM to 8 PM EST.

So much has changed since I was one. Many things have changed for the better, I think. As we look forward to our second year of blogging, we want to hear from you and get your ideas for how our blog can serve you in the present and the future.

| View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: 1968   birthday   govgab_birthday   joanne  

Comments (3):

blue comment bubble Posted by Doug on September 23, 2008 at 10:12 AM EDT

I think one of the better aspects of new internet technology, like your blog, is the ability to attach a human face to government. Our government is a group of people, just doing their jobs, every day...like the rest of us.

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blue comment bubble Posted by bluehawk on September 23, 2008 at 10:21 AM EDT

It is true... this method of dialogue between "the people" and "the government" could not have been imagined and was yearned for in 1968. Today, we are now facing a collateral concern which has come from this new method of communication. Namely, for the people to somehow be assured or encouraged that the time and effort and cost of engaging in these cyber-meetings will, one day, come to mean more than being merely a means of diffusing frustration and ideas; so that the people can be at rest knowing our elected, appointed and employed representatives take what we say seriously, and use our input to help inform the decisions you make every day on our behalf. So, in a way, the yearning of 1968 has been approached, but has yet to be resolved.
Thank you for attempting to do so.

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blue comment bubble Posted by Joanne on September 23, 2008 at 10:28 AM EDT

YES!! You guys get it. We may be employed by the federal government, but we're just people that pay taxes, and love our kids and enjoy long walks on the beach just like you. And we are trying to open up new communication channels between the people and government organizations. This blog is a step - but only one. There are more steps to take, and we're working to find the way. Stay tuned...

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