Photo by Ted Eytan.

Photo by Ted Eytan.

There are more than 681,000 residents who live in Washington D.C.

Within city limits, there are 142,000 federal government jobs, according to the Office of Personnel Management. Let’s say all of those jobs belong to Washingtonians, which they absolutely do not, and slice out all the people in government-adjacent jobs, like consulting and Congressional reporting—you’ve still got a hefty slew of Washingtonians whose work does not take them to Capitol Hill.

But in reading a new opinion piece in The Washington Post’s PostEverything section called “Washington, D.C., is not a cynical swamp. It’s America’s most hopeful place,” you’d be forgiven for forgetting that there are people here who aren’t wrapped up in the federal government or, indeed, that there’s a such thing as a native Washingtonian.

David Litt, a former speechwriter for Barack Obama and nine-year resident, writes:

The defining feature of Washington is simple: People move here to be part of something bigger than themselves. After nearly nine years in D.C., I take it for granted that everyone I meet (even the people I don’t like) spends time thinking about big, national questions. They have a vision not just for their careers, but for America. Here, the dream that entices young people isn’t the chance to become a billionaire or a celebrity. It’s the chance to be underpaid and overworked in service to the country you love. The origin stories of the transplants who arrive here make Washington a city with a heart.

That snippet in particular raised some eyebrows.

Look, every idiotic opinion piece isn’t breaking news. The reason this one matters is that it furthers a narrative that D.C. is the government, as opposed to a city where many federal government agencies have their headquarters.

That erasure is part of what keeps D.C.’s 681,000 residents from getting representation on Capitol Hill, leaving us at the mercy of meddlesome legislators trying to score points in their home districts without any accountability to us.

It’s what leads to calls from politicians to drain D.C., burn it to the ground, or wish a recession upon it.

It’s nice that Litt concludes that “the best of Washington is still the best of America.” But I’m not sure that he’s gotten to know the best of Washington yet.

Updated to reflect that D.C. has 142,000 government jobs in the city, but not all of them are necessarily held by Washingtonians.

Filed Under: David Litt, native washingtonian, op-ed, PostEverything, transplants, washington post,