Did you ever get frustrated by having to fill out tons of paperwork? Do you ever sit through long meetings that seem important, but are mostly boring and irrelevant? Did you ever make a phone call, then get transferred three times only to end up being transferred back to the person you called initially? As Pink Floyd said, “Welcome my son….Welcome to the Machine!”
Every facet of our existence is impeded by bureaucracy. Business and organizations are formed to do something. As they grow, more people are added and the scope of the task broadens. As this happens, the tasks of the organization become fragmented and have to be centrally controlled. But the central control is difficult to maintain as the fragments become more fragmented. The rules become more and more generalized, to the point where getting anything done is no longer a merit of hard work or expertise, but of the ability to navigate the system.
This happens to us as individuals as well. Most of us in our competitive American culture, regardless of occupation or status, are compelled in some way to produce. We are often judged by our productivity. When we are productive, we are rewarded. We often use our rewards to buy things. These things accumulate quickly and soon become clutter. Our livelihoods are dependent on consumption.
There is not necessarily anything wrong with being productive, that’s how we progress. We are blessed with a high standard of living and adequate sanitation and public health. One problem is that the option of doing nothing is not often employed or considered. Also, when things are not working well we often keep doing them.
This is how bureaucracies grow. If they keep growing, they can choke off the blood supply and metastasize like a malignant tumor.
One task where you can’t do this is writing. A good writer has the ability to be concise. By editing down the words and choosing them carefully, the final product is clear and to the point. There is no room for the tangential or self indulgent. As Stephen King put it in his book On Writing, “you have to be willing to kill your babies.” If a writer just kept adding things in the editing process, but not taking things away, the end result is an un-digestable mess.
We would be better off if we used our resources more prudently and if we were better at editing how we do things. The inability to say no or take something away is the reason we are innundated with so much useless mental and physical clutter.
