The man who is guided by reason is more free in a state where he lives under a system of law than in solitude where he obeys only himself.
—Baruch Spinoza, Ethics
In limitations he first shows himself the master,And the law can only bring us freedom.
—Goethe, Was Wir Bringen
What’s so terrible about bureaucracy, then, aside from a bit of dehumanization, inefficiency, learned helplessness, and metaphysical pathos? Alright, those aside, is there something about bureaucracy that we actually like, something that is useful to us? What would an advocate of bureaucracy—if such a person existed—say, not in its defense, but in its praise?
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