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The Rules of Bureaucracy

Entry 2154, on 2021-09-28 at 13:32:47 (Rating 4, Politics)

If you read this blog you will be very well aware of how much despise bureaucracy. Let me clarify that statement a bit before I go on.

According to the Oxford English dictionary, bureaucracy is either "a system of government in which most of the important decisions are taken by state officials rather than by elected representatives" or "excessively complicated administrative procedures".

Clearly the two are linked, but it is primarily the second definition I am going to discuss here. The big problem with this definition is, of course, the word "excessively". What is excessive to me might be correct to someone else. So a rule which I see as unnecessary because it stops me working or living efficiently might be seen as being necessary and reasonable to someone else.

I think we all know about the types of situations I'm talking about though. I mean rules which mean I have to spend $100 of administration time to buy an item worth $10, or rules which stop developers building new houses in the middle of a housing crisis, or rules which are designed to increase safety but do the opposite because people so frustrated with them they need to use unsafe work-arounds.

I recently read an article - which seemed to be quite well researched - on this subject, and it listed several rules that bureaucrats use to maintain their power. These sounded disturbingly familiar, so I thought I should list and discuss them here.

So here are the rules...

Rule 1: Maintain the problem at all costs! The problem is the basis of power, perks, privileges, and security.

I immediately thought of several problems which are either inflated beyond their true hazard level, or really don't exist at all, and which were used as a part of a system to maintain power.

The first is obviously COVID. Yes, I know it is a real problem and requires some sort of response, but it's the extent of the problem and the level of response deemed necessary which concern me. For example, we have had to endure months of lockdowns here in New Zealand because one region of the country had a minor outbreak. We have had no community cases in the South Island of New Zealand for about a year, yet we are still forced into varying levels of lockdown, and although I concede the current level is fairly mild, it is also unnecessary.

The current government regime here in New Zealand, lead by the hideous Jacinda Ardern, thrives on "crisis management". Note that the management does little beyond restricting our freedoms and borrowing vast amounts of money to cover the damage done, but I guess you could say it is no worse than most other forms of management.

Rule 2: Use crisis and perceived crisis to increase your power and control.

As I said above, Ardern thrives on crises, and although she has no real clue what to do about them, she bumbles around in a very supportive away which many people like, so the more significant the crisis, the better she does.

Rule 2a: Force 11th-hour decisions, threaten the loss of options and opportunities, and limit the opposition's opportunity to review and critique.

At this point I'm starting to get the feeling that Ardern might have read this list and decided to act on it! This is exactly what she does. She makes decisions at the last minute and grandstands while making them. She threatens further loss of freedoms if people don't behave. And she stops effective opposition questioning of her decisions.

Rule 3: If there are not enough crises, manufacture them, even from nature, where none exist.

The current government has primarily used and exaggerated existing crises for their own benefit, but there are undoubtedly problems they have created just to pursue their agenda. For example, the current mindless hysteria over racism and colonialism is just a fake narrative used to had out power and privilege to minority groups. It insidious and extremely dishonest.

Rule 4: Control the flow and release of information while feigning openness.

Again, this fits the current government to perfection. They claimed they would be the most open government ever but constantly refuse to reveal information, they control the media for their own benefit to the extent of handing out millions in what might uncharitably be called bribes, and the PM in particular is excellent at avoiding answering questions even in the unlikely event that a difficult one is aimed at her.

Rule 4a: Deny, delay, obfuscate, spin, and lie.

Again, this fits Ardern to perfection. She denies obvious facts; for example that we went hard and early with our response to COVID when everyone knows we left it too late, then panicked by enforcing draconian rules. She delays by creating committees and advisors to study a problem instead of fixing it. She spins everything with her message of positivity which is really the opposite, and she often makes statements which are simply untrue.

Rule 5: Maximize public-relations exposure by creating a cover story that appeals to the universal need to help people.

Are you beginning to see my point now? Again this fits the current government to perfection. They create an exaggerated story, prevent people from doing anything about it, then expect the adulation of the people when they come in and offer a solution themselves.

Rule 6: Create vested support groups by distributing concentrated benefits and/or entitlements to these special interests, while distributing the costs broadly to one's political opponents.

By now the reader should know that the government is likely to fit in with this rule, so who are the vested groups involved? The obvious examples are "minority groups", especially Maori, and institutions likely to be amenable to leftist doctrine, like the media. And yes, they are getting lots of handouts funded by the taxpayer.

Rule 7: Demonize the truth tellers who have the temerity to say, "The emperor has no clothes."

This government has a definite preference for shutting down discussion on subjects they are uncomfortable with. There is always some justification for this, although it is usually hugely exaggerated, but that tendency to shut down free speech is very obvious.

Some of the subjects we "aren't allowed to talk about" are: problems with vaccines (note, I am not anti-vaccine - I have had the first COVID vaccine shot myself - but I would like to see the real concerns some people have handled more fairly); criticism of the activities of some parts of the Muslim community in New Zealand, and whether that religion is inherently more violent or oppressive; and whether special privileges for Maori are justified.

The government's proposed "anti hate speech" legislation is highly problematic, and I think it indicates a general wish to suppress unpopular opinions; surely a very dangerous sign of a government which is ut of control.

So you can see that the rules are exactly what Ardern and her cronies are using to maintain their power and inflict their highly problematic ideologies on the country. They are the ultimate bureaucrats. That is not necessarily anything bad in itself, but it is a real warning sign of how we are being manipulated.

Comment 21 (6949) by Derek Ramsey on 2021-11-03 at 19:42:11: (view earlier comments)

Even vaccine development was done faster (but not as fast as it could!) because the bureaucratic overhead was temporarily reduced. Nevertheless, bureaucracy has continued to implicitly and explicitly prevent hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, hyper-immune plasma, and other potential therapies. It also explicitly fails to recognize natural immunity as equal to (or better than) vaccination “immunity”.

You forgot one rule: profit from the conflict. Power is fine, but money is good too. Conflicts of interest abound, including the WHO, CDC, the researchers, etc.

Comment 22 (6950) by OJB on 2021-11-03 at 19:42:35:

BTW, I think COVID did require some response. It is a real disease, and we should expect more hopsitilisations because of it. Maybe the repsonse whould have been increasing hospital capabilities, or just recommendations about avoiding spread. The draconian lockdowns, etc I think were too much, but some response was needed.

Comment 23 (6951) by Derek Ramsey on 2021-11-04 at 08:49:44:

I say this as someone currently recovering from a breakout covid infection: yes, there existed superior covid responses that could have saved lives, but none of them could have been (or were!) implemented by governments or other bureaucracies.

The reason you are somewhat skeptical of rule #1 is because you (like most people) think bureaucracies can actually in reality implement those solutions (rule #2). But a bureaucracy cannot implement non-bureaucratic solutions. Yes, positive responses to COVID were probably ‘required’, but they can’t be implemented by bureaucracies. What actually gets implemented will always be something worse.

In Pennsylvania, overweight transgender Health Director Levine moved their own family member out of long term care facility just prior to instituting policies that cost long term care resident lives. Rather than being prosecuted, Biden was elected and Levine was promoted to a federal executive cabinet position, ultimately being given the position of “four-star admiral in Public Health Service”, a purely bureaucratic virtual signal, if I ever heard of one.

Comment 24 (6952) by OJB on 2021-11-04 at 08:53:36:

I am very much on your side, believe me. I am no fan of bureaucracies, having been the victim of many bureaucratic policies and decisions. However, we need to consider the alternatives. If governments, councils, boards, and other groups are all bureaucracies, how should we manage society to avoid them?

I know this is somewhat trite, but maybe it is like democracy. To paraphrase Churchill: bureaucracy is the worst form or organisation, apart form all the rest!

Comment 25 (6953) by OJB on 2021-11-04 at 08:53:49:

And also: I hate political correctness and virtue signalling, so I totally accept your last point. I’m not sure what the link between bureaucracy and political correctness is though. PC seems something exhibited by both bureaucracies and individuals.

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