The way it usually gets presented to you, it's wonderful if Congress can agree to a spending bill, and it's a catastrophe if it can't. No spending authority to fund the operation of the government? Oh no! We'll all die!
Actually no we won't, and most of the time a "shutdown" doesn't shut down much of anything at all. But most people have been trained to think that agreement on a spending bill is what all Americans need if we're to continue living, breathing and eating.