Monday Blues: Bureaucracy as super-virus

One of the characteristics of any human organization (social institutions being one specific subset) is their similarity to an individual organism.

The parallel is two-fold.First, “the purpose behind existence of organization”, in my opinion (admittedly cynical one) whatever be the initial justification behind the organization, it is soon buried under the matters of technicalities and details, the final result that after a period the organization exists for sake of its existence.

To put in precise words, while initially the organization might have been meant to provide benefit to the society at large, but eventually in most cases the only one benefiting from the organization is the organization itself (i.e. entities which constitute organization, this might be some officer or some NGO point stands) with the society at large paying the banker (or to be more precise sucker).

Second, “the reproduction and evolution”, both to justify its existence in eyes of bankers (superficially, of course) any organization as well as to maximize the pay off will constitute processes (new rituals, or regulations) which willy-nilly give rise to new processes.

Ultimately a time comes that the society is bogged down both by the restrictions placed on it through these customs and laws as well as by the enormous amount of energy, time and cost required for preservation of these.

The reason such organizations which serve no purpose (except of their constituents) exists at cost of larger society, is that the society can always be beguiled with promise of some unrealistic, fantastic but highly desirable goal.

To give just two examples taking the advantage of natural sentiment for departed ancestors, priest class prescribed complicated rituals for shaanti of departed, this doesn’t have any sanctions from basic world view of scriptures but this is rewarding to the class and hence a burden on society is added.

Modern example is that of welfare state, even though it doesn’t work, politicians, progressives and bureaucrats can announce one poverty alleviation program safter another with no danger of recrimination because it appeals both to the basest desire of greed as well as lofty and yet superficial ideal of egalitarianism.

Hence welfare state is best understood in terms of a modern adaptation by a modern organization (that is bureaucracy) to survive.