Author: Wayne Slingluff

Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy is where most citizens interact with any government. Naturally, it is usually hated. The functions may be necessary, but no one loves a tax collector. Including the tax collector .

In the modern world, bureaucracy is the most stable institution of government. “Rulers come and go”, the tax collector remains. Soon it is all wrapped into a hated “deep state”. Since the days of the ancient empires, no matter who gets in charge, a tax collector or other agent will show up. “Meet the new boss …”

Our founding fathers didn’t think much about bureaucracy. There’s nothing about it in the Constitution. Except for national defense (and even most of that) they left it as a local matter to towns and states. They just figured folks would be temporarily hired at need .

It didn’t work. Bureaucracy grew from the beginning. But who was in charge? Just as corporations became “persons”, bureaucracy magically turned into an “executive function.” That’s surely wrong. It really should be fully controlled by the legislature. One of the big – really big – powers of the presidency that is completely unchecked .

And now, after centuries of civil service reform, it appears to be reverting to a “spoils system”. The second leg (politicization of the military is first) of establishing authoritarianism .

Shrinking

Roman and Greek morality looked back at an imagined golden age in the past and sought to emulate its heroes. A massive outlook change in Western culture (maybe science, industrialization, Christianity, or phase of the moon) had us looking at imagined futures instead. 

There is now little respect for those who do not plan future growth.  Yet I’ve been shrinking physically for some time now, shorter by at least an inch. My mental agility is declining.  As I passed through my ’70s energy waned, senses were less sharp, memories became more important. I accepted that as natural, but society does not .

Young “whippersnappers” tell elders how active they should be, how they must engage in hobbies, how they must struggle to be better. Apocryphal tales speak of “old” people suddenly starting companies and becoming wealthy (although the definition of old seems to be creeping downward into the ’40s …)

In my newly engaged art pastime., I’ve decided to do away with future marvels. I simply want to use my reduced situation – senses and skills – as valid restrictions to construct unique artifacts. If my sight is blurred, let my drawings also be so. If my hand shakes, utilize that in my lines .

Not to get better in the future. Just to enjoy being a shrinking being as much as I possibly can .

Paradigm Shifts

A paradigm shift occurs when former ways of thinking and living no longer work. In personal terms it means our common sense and traditional values no longer apply, and new ones must be created .

Joseph Campbell in his books on mythology made the interesting point that such historic cultural breaks often occurred rapidly (in about a hundred years) then settled in for a long time (thousands of years). A good example is ancient Egypt .

We seem to be in the midst of the whirlwind. Our thinking is forced into new patterns every year or so, sometimes even more often. And unfortunately, it is impossible to tell what will emerge or whether we will like it at all .

My point is that our times may be very unusual. After the dust settles – for better or worse – whatever system of thought survives may last for a very long time indeed .

Okay, a comforting long-term thought. But it doesn’t help each of us now as the storm rages and high waves rock the boat. All we can do is deal with changes as they wash over us one after another .

The curse of “interesting times”. At least we still have the option of imagining various happy outcomes .

Limits

There are two main purposes for any government. One is to provide group security. The second is to maintain social stability. If either fails, government change will occur .

A new book by Phil Gramm claims government should avoid all economic interaction. Like most capitalist visionaries, he certainly does NOT mean that government should not protect property or enforce contracts. Capitalism, after all, requires a certain amount of coercion .

Most of us have come to agree that free enterprise competition, “within limits” is the best economic system. Yet even fervent capitalists agree that monopoly – a natural tendency of successful business – is hardly free enterprise. ONE fruit seller in the market is not the way to better product and lower prices .

But the second purpose of government is what is in question right now. How many limits (“regulations, taxes”) should be placed on capitalistic enterprises to assure security continues? Zoning laws, poverty relief, public spaces, protection of natural resources (air, water) and on and on. It’s not as simple as the narrow-minded ivory tower economists pretend .

Many of us believe that in the modern world of abundance, a certain minimum level of lifestyle should be provided to all adults and a high lifestyle to all children. Not doing so is not only immorally mean, but also a danger to our civilization itself .

Mythology

As a modern scientific civilization, we used to think that we had put mythology behind us. Myths were simply fictional morality tales, a “primitive” form of literature. We did not depend on gods and demons, but on facts and logic. Not for us the strange and inexplicable rites of lesser cultures..

Of course, we found we were wrong. An open mind in an open society merely lets us pick and choose among the many mythologies available. In other cultures, you often do not get to choose. But we all live by mythology just the same .

It has been painful to watch the erosion of “fact and logic” over the last decades. People now believe “influencers” as they used to believe astrologers or witch doctors. They attend cable news as they used to go to religious service. Belief is founded on just-so stories and wishes and selected fragments of reality. In this environment, the masses seem to be as easily led as peasants in medieval Europe .

Human nature. Not easily tamed. We must believe in something. And if the reasons for belief in anything are questioned, all bets are off .

So this civilization is not the civilization I thought it was. The current mythologies are darker and more blood drenched. An open mind in an open society has gone with the wind .