By Tim Wood
I need to take some time to talk about (probably) the most misunderstood and abused “.cracy” word I know of (besides democracy): Bureaucracy. But wait, is this a form of government?
Webster defines a bureaucracy as “A system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives. (Now this can be misleading because all states elect some sort of a mix and percentage of state officials).
I also found this AI generated definition of bureaucracy: A system of organization that uses rules and procedures to implement laws and policies. (I kinda like that one). This definition is likable because it invokes the word’s origin from France, “bureaucratie”… think: bureau, a chest of drawers with a writing table.
It always amazes me when you look up an accepted, proper definition for any word, it becomes obvious how abused, misused and misunderstood most words can become; it’s always people that generate all those abuses and confusions, but now, we have AI that can do that for us with a click of a button, for both good and evil.
Any form of government in this modern world will be managed with some form of bureaucracy, from a dictatorship to a utopia … there’s just too many people on earth, and we have to be managed with some type of bureaucracy, along with the rules and procedures used to set (their system’s) laws and policies. I’ve read that suppressed societies are usually even more entrenched in bureaucratic systems than democratic ones. We are witnessing Trump and Musk transforming our (mostly) democratic bureaucracy into an oligarchy bureaucracy, right now, as I write these words. I don’t know how that transitioning can possibly be more obvious; I guess until it gets worse, and it’s getting worse by the day.
Yes, I have found myself more radical now (witnessing what has happened in the last several weeks) than in my youth, but at 75, my brain and fingertips are the only weapons I will allow myself to use to feed my radicalism. I dearly want to remain comfortable and secure inside my own country, but I will never support what is happening to this privileged country under the Trump/Musk administration. It’s as if both Joe McCarthy and America First won when the the U.S.A.’s democracy was dangerously close to becoming fascist.
I know violence was worse in the late 50s/mid-60s, but, back then, when some of us wanted change we felt, with time and work, the country might change, and it did, just not quickly; but I never, ever thought or felt our system of government would be so bluntly attacked from within and against the rule of law as it is now … right now.
I recently saw pictures from the El Salvadorian prison, the Terrorism Confinement Center … it’s purpose is simply horrific … but it’s certainly the cleanest looking death camp compared to World War II concentration camps, though just as inhumane. The acceptance of the amount of inhumanity happening at this time, now, in our world is frightening.
Did you ever think you’d watch the broadcasted cruelty in Gaza but feeling stagnate, not being able to do anything about it? When I went looking for the “New Society” as an 18 year old, I never could have fantasized what I’m witnessing now, as our present society seems to be morphing into what the mind of Donald Trump and Elon Musk envision. It’s dystopian, it’s terrifying and it is simply wrong.
Boycotts and shutdowns are all that is left for us to turn to, peacefully. I’m asserting that too much of today’s world leaders are out there now primarily for power and wealth; Trump, Musk, Orban, Putin, Maduro, Marcos, Jong Un, Jinping, Bezos … you know the list. Hurting those leaders financially is all that they will pay attention to.
Have you ever tried taking a bone away from a feral dog? Expect the worst is yet to come, but we better figure out some way to act for change before the Proud Boys are turned into the Brown Shirts.
On top of all this jabbering, I hope people reading this fully understand that I believe (strongly, personally) there is a lot within our government that needs to be cleaned up and reshuffled. I strongly believe in a balanced Federal budget along with zero national and public debt. I don’t want non-citizens owning vast acreage’s of American soil and real estate. I want bipartisan and humane solutions for controlled immigration. I want all criminals tried and punished appropriately.
But! … I want all this and more fulfilled within our Republic, through an evolving Constitution within a nonpartisan justice and governmental (bureaucratic) system. Easy-peasy, right!?!
Some of you might now be thinking, “This guy’s right up there with the conspiracy-theory crazies”…and I do have a couple interesting conspiracy theories: The world’s billionaires are scrambling, as fast as they can, for as much power and wealth as their deep greed allows, because they strongly sense the approaching Holocene Extinction as this present world is consuming itself.
I believe what really drives billionaires like Musk and Bezos is their race for which one of them will become the world’s first trillionaire; too much is not enough! I wish I could put that into my pipe and smoke it.
P.S. I’m ending these (too long) meditations on a personal note to Lindsey Graham: Dear Lindsey. I wanted you to know that I just got a message from my mother: She and Strom are rolling over in their graves, though George, J. Edgar and Joe are not, but they’re backing you 100%. God help us.
Tim and Kristy Wood moved to Beaufort in 1974. He worked as a carpenter in both restoration and new home construction, as well as operating a shop specializing in custom woodwork, Wood on Wood Specs. He is semi-retired, involved with fine woodworking and formerly sat on the City of Beaufort Zoning Board of Appeals.
