1) Government by many bureaus, administrators, and petty officials.
2) The body of officials and administrators, especially of a government or government department.
3) Excessive multiplication of, and concentration of power in administrative bureaus or administrators.
4) Administration characterized by excessive red tape and routine.
Number 4 is my favorite.
My case against bureaucracy is what I would like to call "common sense libertarianism." You'll see why.
We all believe (maybe except for anarchists...) that at least a little government rule is necessary.
So, as a lot of y'all know, I went to Hempfest a couple of weekends ago. I had to pack lightly because I didn't have a place to store my stuff the whole time. Luckily, I was able to have it in my hotel room both Friday and Saturday. Then on Sunday, I had to lug everything around with me - one reason why I spent most of my time in the Hemposium. Let's look at this:
1) I had to have enough clothing, toiletries, etc. to last me until I came back to Bellingham.
2) I wanted to have a little of extra of some things (e.g. clothing) in case of an emergency.
3) Because I had no idea if I would have anywhere to store my stuff, I had to pack light enough to traverse at least semi-comfortable on foot.
4) Not to mention I would be probably receiving/buying a lot of things to bring back with me, so I had to make sure I had room for all of that.
Based on those four points you can come to the simple conclusion that I needed to bring everything I would actually have to use on the trip, some extra things in case of emergency, yet not too many things because I would be walking around a lot, and I had to prepare to also carry back the inevitable souvenirs.
Think of a budget - business or a family. They have to pay all the necessities to ensure their survival, whether it be food or taxes. Both of them need to have backup inventory. What if a store didn't have items available in the back, and what was in the storefront was all that you could buy? I am not even going to cover the pain in the ass it would be for the store itself when it comes to dealing with manufacturers and/or wholesalers, but they would be unable to sell certain items to customers when it is in demand because they would run out of those items - and it can weeks for orders to deliver. Just imagine this same store with so much inventory that they couldn't even fit it in storage. That is an unnecessary hassle. It is also good for this same business to have extra money for reasons 2 and 4 - maybe winter didn't bring in many customers, but they still have to pay taxes, or maybe a wholesaler is having a special sale on a certain product that has done very well at this store. If you had spent it all on inventory already (and you are already in a lot of debt from ordering from other wholesalers), then you would have to pass up the good deal.
You could apply this same model to government agencies.
Even school governments.
I was an Eco-Rep for the Fairhaven residence hall at my school last year. This meant I had to attend the hall council meetings. One particular meeting really stood out to me.
That Monday evening, I learned, for the first time, that the hall council owns an Xbox 360. They hadn't advertised it much, so there was good reason why I had no idea about this. During this meeting, they wanted to let there be more awareness of it to the Fairhaven residents, and we were to vote on whether or not students should pay for it if they happened to purposefully break it. There was only one person who voted against having students to pay for it.
That student was me.
Every normal human being would want whoever broke something (on purpose) to pay for it, right? Of course - even I think that...Then why did I vote against it?
I have several reasons.
First off, nobody is going to intentionally break it. Well, I know there could possibly be some shithole who would do that, but face it, that would be a rare circumstance. Why would anybody want to break an Xbox 360? While discussing the matter, some students said that if someone were to throw it down the stairs, then, of course, they should have to pay for it. In what world would other people throw someone else's Xbox down the stairs? Think about it.
Okay, maybe that one shithole actually lives in Fairhaven this next school year and finds out about the Xbox, then decides to check it out. If that shithole knew that he/she wouldn't be in trouble for breaking it, then it's entirely possible that he/she would do something stupid like throw it down the stairs. What most people forget is that humans have a need to be socially-accepted. If people were to find out that this shithead broke the Xbox, then people would think, "What a dick!" or "I don't want to be hanging out with that weirdo." Many people underestimate how not being accepted by peers can really affect a person.
Maybe you don't think that the fellow residents shunning the shithead is enough of a punishment. Anyways, it was someone else's property he/she broke, so it's only natural that he/she is responsible. What if, and this may seem like a crazy suggestion...
WHAT IF THE HALL COUNCIL DOESN'T ADVERTISE THE FACT THE YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THE XBOX IF YOU INTENTIONALLY BREAK IT?
Seriously, look at it people. All of our lives, we've heard, "You break it, you buy it." Our lives revolve around trying not to break things because either we have spent money on buying them or have to offer some money or a replacement when we break something that belongs to someone else (if they refuse the offer, you still have to pay the person back with a lifetime of guilt). What I am saying is that pretty much everybody assumes that you are not supposed to break things because it will result in them having to pay it back. That should be enough of an incentive not to break the Xbox.
Besides, if the Xbox does break when someone has checked it out, don't you think they would lie in order for themselves not to pay for it? If they admitted to purposefully breaking it and refuse to pay...well maybe the hall council can come up with something for that.
Lastly, what if the Xbox broke under someone's care? There would have to be an investigation, which would be tedious and time-consuming.
So the Xbox rule is just a small thing. However, small things add up. My point is that there should be enough rules and guidelines to cover everyday procedure, emergency situations, and things that might come up in the future that are better to address now rather than later. Most importantly, the constitution of the organization, rulebook, etc. should be large enough to cover these, but small enough so that not only is it less bulk (especially if it's in physical form and you have to carry it around), but easy enough for any employee, member, etc. to be able to comprehend and remember.
Who wants to read a 50-page constitution for a hall council?
To be continued...
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