The Bureaucratic Profile

By Brent Johnson

Have you ever experienced the anguish of dealing with a government official who just refuses to understand your specific situation, or a banker who will not help you with a particular problem you are having, or an educator who cannot see your point of view regarding the raising of your children? The frustrations that you have experienced are due to the fact that you are dealing with bureaucrats.

Bureaucrats are a particular type of being; different from regular people. They exist to be the cogs in political and corporate machines. The companies and agencies that employ bureaucrats seek people who are predictable, which provides those same companies and agencies with control over their “human resources”.

There are certain characteristics that apply to all bureaucrats. These characteristics are present in every bureaucrat because if they didn’t have them then they would not be hired as bureaucrats.

The first of these characteristics is obedience. Bureaucrats are the product of their training; nothing more and nothing less. The “nothing more” is significant, because it means that bureaucrats cannot think outside of their respective training boxes. If they could think creatively then they could not be counted on to be obedient, and therefore would not have been hired. This means that all bureaucrats are absolutely predictable. This is also why you cannot argue rationally with a bureaucrat.

Furthermore, bureaucrats - especially those who deal directly with the public (on the lowest branch of the bureaucratic tree) are trained to say “no” to any requests they receive unless they cannot find a reason to say “no”; then and only then do they say “yes”. This makes it far less likely that the agency or company for which a bureaucrat works will be sued. This is why you constantly get denied when making a request of a bureaucrat, who is always telling you that there are additional steps you need to take, or additional rules with which you must comply in order to get their approval or assistance.

Bureaucrats are taught to think of themselves as “experts” in their respective fields. They are told that when people come to them they’re statements are considered to be expertise. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In general, bureaucrats know very little about the laws or regulations governing their so-called fields of expertise.

For example, if you go to your local Department of Motor Vehicles to apply for a driver’s license, and explain that you do not have a social security number due to your religious conviction, the bureaucrat will tell you that you cannot get a license without one. That is not true. As a matter of fact, most states have laws that specifically state that you cannot have your request for a license or permit denied for failing to provide a social security number. But the low-level bureaucrat doesn’t know that. If, however, you speak with a supervisor, then you will get your license even if you do not have a social security number.

Overall, bureaucrats mindless obedience to the rules and regulations that govern their activities are the strength of a bureaucracy. They are the reason that governments or companies are successful in implementing their programs effectively; because you cannot run roughshod over them, since they are invulnerable to your objections to their demands.

On the other hand, that same mindless obedience makes all bureaucrats predictable, and that predictability represents the greatest weakness of a bureaucracy. You see, since bureaucrats cannot think outside of their training boxes, and presumably you can, therefore you are much smarter than a bureaucrat, and you can out-think any bureaucrat.

Whether you are dealing with a court clerk, administrative agency functionary, county recorder, DMV worker, policeman, banker, or corporate lackey, you are dealing with a bureaucrat, and can generally achieve your objectives in those dealings if you only use your brain, because the bureaucrat you are dealing with can’t.

In every walk of life it is advisable to accentuate your strengths and diminish your weaknesses, and when dealing with bureaucrats the same thing applies. Do not fight your bureaucratic battle on legal grounds, even if you are legally in the right; it won’t matter. The bureaucrats are trained how to deal with legal challenges, threats of legal action, etc., because that is what most people who find themselves stymied by bureaucrats try to do. Since they are trained in this area, it is one of their strengths, and if you fight them in their strengths then you will most likely lose the fight.

Instead, fight your battles on the psychological battleground. You can out-think any bureaucrat because thinking is the bureaucrat’s weakness; therefore use your intelligence and creativity to achieve your objectives in dealing with bureaucrats. If you fight your battles in this manner you will win the vast majority of them.

The next time you deal with a bureaucrat, remember what you have read here. It will give you peace of mind, success in achieving your objectives, and just plain make you feel good at the outcome you receive. Remember, you are the rulers of your country, not the bureaucrats. Act that way and most bureaucrats will see you as king or queen, and behave accordingly.

Brent Johnson is Director of Freedom Bound International, a common law service center dedicated to the preservation of personal freedom, privacy rights and the Declaration of Independence. He may be reached at 1-888-385-FREE or on-line at www.freedomradio.us.