"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." ~ H.L. Mencken
What "Non-essential" really means....
The gang leaders can't decide how to spend the loot, so they decide to "shut down" until they can work it out. Because of thier self-imposed hardship, it should be easy to see and understand what their priorities are.
They shut down the operation of parks, museums, arts, issuing grants, welfare checks, WIC cards, social services...
But not the DEA, ATF, EPA, FBI, CIA, DHS, TSA, or other alphabet agencies. So it seems anything to do with service is non-essential, and anything to do with enFORCEment must carry on at any cost.
The agencies that deal in violence are essential. The agencies that deal in service are not.
It seems these two rival gangs agree on quite a bit more than they let on.
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Yes, it is to punish us.
But let's be careful. They don't actually shut down parks. For example, locally, Yellowstone Park is not shut down because there are still federal employees at the gates. They are allegedly to let contractors in, but their real purpose is to keep everybody else out. If the park was really shut down there would be no one at the gates and we could drive through freely. No doubt the state of Wyoming would be happy to take over park operation, since it must be a money-making concern. It takes the genius of the federal government to fail to make money from one of the most popular parks in the world.
Good point. Shut down is distinctly different from unmanned.