If the litany of government shutdowns and almost-shutdowns should have taught us anything, it’s that our federal government’s function was a fickle thing even long before cutting thousands of staffers, shuttering agencies and freezing spending.

This is not to say these actions are a good thing, nor is it to say they are a bad thing.

It is merely a fact — which are in precious short supply these days.

From that fact, we can extrapolate: dependence on the federal government will be unwise for the foreseeable future.

Again, there is no assessment of morality with this statement. Democrats may see this as a liability, while Republicans may see this as just.

However, the impact on our area needs to be considered — on a state level, a county level and a local level.

The actions being taken in Washington, good or bad, will have a ripple effect, one which will affect even sleepy little Clinton County.

When and if federal agencies are closed, the responsibility for those services will shift downward.

It’s one thing to smother Medicaid and Medicare because the federal government should not be in the health insurance business. But, data shows that in Clinton County, just over 30% of residents are on one of these programs. In Centre County, 20% of their residents are on one of these plans — a lower percentage, but consider their higher population count: nearly 160,000 compared to Clinton County’s nearly 40,000.

What happens to those people? Presumably, they’ll shift to Affordable Care Act plans, unless that is closed as well, in which case they will likely either go without coverage (which will ruin lives both due to finances and preventable illness), or they will sign up for private insurance and pay substantially more than they are used to (assuming coverage costs don’t spike due to increased demand).

This, in turn, will remove discretionary income from those who can afford it, which will affect local businesses as those customers will disappear; or, if they cannot afford the insurance, those people will become sicker and fewer in number, thereby also reducing customers.

That is just one example. Consider constructions contracts, handled by local crews, but paid for with federal monies, for another; or the removal of farm subsidies as the USDA budget is cut, for still another.

Subsidies also affect utilities, which means water treatment and electrical production could also run into issues.

And, this is all assuming that the government is funded in March and there isn’t a prolonged shutdown or default on the U.S. debt, which would create far more problems downstream.

None of this is said to inspire fear or derision.

If anything, it is said to inspire hope.

There is a certain grimness to our outlook, but it’s not one that is unusual to us as a rural region which has suffered from decline for decades.

We have long stared these challenges in the face, and stood against the wind even though it howl and bluster.

What is happening in Washington is uncertain.

What should be happening in Clinton County and the surrounding area, however, is very certain: we should be working as best as we can with the limited resources we possess to build sustainability and resilience, so that even if things begin to fall apart, our communities can hold strong and ride out the storm with minimal disruptions.

It’s impossible for anyone to truly stand alone in the modern world — obviously, we aren’t going to spontaneously start producing microprocessors, for example — but we believe that local elected officials should be looking into what can be done to strengthen our natural resources, agriculture and tax base.

Perhaps everything will be sunshine and rainbows, and it will be all for naught — our lives will go on as they ever have, with no undue struggle coming our way.

But if the worst case is that we leave a better world for our children and grandchildren, then we believe that’s a course worth pursuing.