College of Political Knowledge
Subject: Political Theory/Political Administration
This is a continuation of a discussion that one of my most avid readers, Quin of Quintessential Havoc (go to blogroll to get to his site)……we have discussed the evils of the heavy bureaucracy that is prevalent in democracies…..but I want to talk about the bureaucracy on the local or state level this time…..
I will talk about my state…Mississippi……(thanx for all the sympathy cards)……..the state has 82 counties….and in some cases the county seats are less than 25 miles apart….the counties were created around land ownership, in most cases or were created in the days of the horse and buggy as the only mode of transportation….those days are gone and so are the days of the necessity for so many different jurisdictions…..
The capital city of Jackson and its suburbs are located in 3 counties…..the Coast, which is about 26 miles long, has three repeated county seats…..Hattiesburg, locate between Coast and the Capital, and its suburbs cover 2 counties, maybe three……my point is, if the state is truly wanting to saving money it is time for some realistic consolidation…..eliminate all the duplication….K.I.S.S. and consolidation is the simplest solution…..
All that is a worthless waste of resources just to keep the “good ol boy” system in place….states are struggling to save money and balance their budgets and still offer the services that the people need….but instead of looking at reality they attempt all sorts of revenue generating schemes that in the long run harm the people that they say they are trying to help…..
Elected officials need to cease all this bantering and pseudo-fixes to the administration of government and look for real solutions….no matter if they are popular or not……eventually a real statesman will appear and do what is necessary….until then…..budgets will be crap and the people will suffer while the politicians keep lying and cheating the people out of their future…….sorry to be a downer……but we need to face reality and stop sticking our heads in the sane and exposing our butts to the politicians….they WILL take advantage……
Another good plan for the people’s money…..where I live the local courthouse decided to build a new parking garage….they tore up an existing parking lot and when the garage was built they gain about 3 new parking spaces…..but it was imperative that it be built…….the old parking lot was perfectly good but they had to have a garage and the couple extra parking spots cost about $1 million each…..not bad if you are a contractor, huh? God I love this stuff!
Side Note:
One appointment in a memo announcing White House staffing changes sounds like something from a future Harvard Kennedy School case study of what went wrong: Emmett Beliveau was appointed Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the Chief of Staff. God, I love this stuff…it just keeps getting better and better……
Thanx for the props. I do agree about the simplification. The trouble is that bureaucracy is self-generating and reproduces itself and offspring like a bunch of rabbits on Viagra.
Administrators and bureaucrats are there to provide a SERVICE and it has NO intrinsic value whatesoever – only in what it does for the people – how smooth and helpful it is the the population at large and individuals alike – yeah, right!!!
Sadly, bureaucracy is just another side of the coin that is government – but without the responsibility.
The county educational system is bad and bankrupt….but the cash was spent for 3 new parking places……priorities are not the driving factor…..I would bet that someone had a relative in the construction business……
Of course – almost certainly. Again, it is no surprise to me, but that’s not much consolation for you, is it? 🙁
this is a typical “good old boys” system……how about a judge that gets paid for sending prisoners to a prison for profit center?
There will be more on bureaucracy…….keeps me thinking…lol