A federal agency’s birthday, but today is your day

This is a story of an agency, a poet, and you.

One hundred years ago today, President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the Federal Trade Commission Act.  The legislation is an integral part of modern antitrust and consumer protection law.  At the time of its passage, the Act outlawed “unfair methods of competition in commerce,” while later amendments prohibited “unfair or deceptive acts or practices.”  The statute also created an agency, so-named the Federal Trade Commission, to enforce the new law.

{mosads}Today thus marks the Federal Trade Commission’s birthday, and it is a major one:  the big 1-0-0.  But what do we make of it?  The birthday of a parent, child, significant other, or friend matters.  We buy cards and cakes, light the candles, and watch as wishes are made while the flames fade away.  Federal agencies are not necessarily near and dear to us, however.  At best they fight for the vulnerable and powerless; at worst they waste hard-earned taxpayer money.

This brings us to the poet.  Walt Whitman knew nothing of the Federal Trade Commission, having died twenty-two years before its creation.  Yet Whitman shared the agency’s goal of promoting competition, albeit in his own world of language.  Poets “shall be marked for generosity and affection and for encouraging competitors,” he wrote in the preface to Leaves of Grass, “without monopoly or secrecy…glad to pass any thing to any one…hungry for equals night and day.” 

Now, we come to you.  What do you have to do with an agency’s birthday?  It is Whitman—the spiritual trustbuster, the self-appointed guardian of unfettered feeling—who provides us the answer.  As he proclaims in his “Song for Occupations:”

“The President is there in the White House for you, it is not you who are here for him,

The Secretaries act in their bureaus for you, not you here for them,

The Congress convenes every Twelfth-month for you,

Laws, courts, the forming of States, the charters of cities, the going and coming of commerce and mails, are all for you.”

Today is the Federal Trade Commission’s birthday, but it is your day.  In fact, every day is your day. Whitman reminds us of a truth oft forgotten in our busy, divided, and complicated world.  Agencies, laws, markets—they are all for you, not you for them.  The system is supposed to work for laborers, investors, consumers, and voters, not against them.  But far too often, the tide runs in the opposite direction, dragging us away from the shore.

On this day, when we pause to consider the passing of a century, consider yourself.  Celebrate yourself.  Think whether your government is working for you.  Register to vote for the November elections if you have not.  Reach out to your elected officials and make your voice heard.  And especially on the Federal Trade Commission’s birthday, learn about the agency’s work.  File a complaint if you are the victim of fraud.  Submit a public comment on one of the agency’s proposed rules.  Inform yourself about the agency.  Inform the agency about you. 

Do not give up on your government.  Despite what is said, honest and hardworking people are found in agency offices.  But nevertheless, participate, stay vigilant, and demand accountability.  Walt Whitman understood that today’s birthday—and every government agency, initiative, or milestone—is all for you, but our demands do not materialize by merely closing our eyes and hoping for change in the comfort of our own homes.  Words and wishes are not enough.  “I and mine,” the poet acknowledged, “do not convince by arguments, similes, rhymes.  We convince by our presence.”

O’Connor is a second-year law student at the University of Chicago and former employee of the Federal Trade Commission.