The (Delicate) Art of Bureaucracy

I mistrust all systematizers and I avoid them. The will to a system is a lack of integrity.

—Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

And what thing soever besides cometh within the chaos of this monster’s mouth, be it beast, boat, or stone, down it goes all incontinently that foul great swallow of his, and perisheth in the bottomless gulf of his paunch.

—Plutarch, Moralia

Authorities and Royal Fools

Let’s take any social organization, by which I mean a group of people working together toward common goals. It could be, perhaps, a government, or a business corporation, or a nonprofit. By what authority do leaders lead in this organization, and how can ...