Supernatural Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy is a subject near and dear to me. For a brief and fascinatingly bizarre piece on bureaucracy, check out Checkpoints by Ji Yun (1724-1805) Translated by Yi Izzy Yu and John Yu Branscum . The straightforward tone and approach to the supernatural consequences of missing paperwork after death is a great instance of the “strange story.”

These strange stories have quite a tradition in China. In “Strange Tales Indeed: A close look at Pu Songling’s short stories,” Carlos Ottery writes,  “It turns out that years of  education, coupled with a harsh spoonful of bitter failure and ample free time, are a recipe for authorial success. Chinese literature is so littered with failed mandarins that it sometimes feels like flunking the imperial exam is a pre-requisite.”

In the case of Ji Yun, such failure was not necessary. He had an impressive career and also produced strange stories.

The way in which life is made impossible by problems with paperwork has troubled me, in ways large and small, forever. With a full legal name too complicated (apparently) to say, file taxes online in the early days of online filing, or print in its entirety on a boarding pass, I have had many problems with paperwork, ranging from brief annoyances to multi-year battles with motor vehicle departments. I have at least one protracted discussion about my name and identity when I go vote. Every. Single. Time. I have been advised by the local board of elections not to attempt to do anything to “fix” this problem but to instead request that instead of attempting to check me in digitally, I should ask to be looked up manually. For the curious, this strategy does not work at neighborhood precincts.  I could go on, but my tales of bureaucratic woe is far less entertaining than Ji Yun’s. 

What he learns is that the way in which paperwork mediates and shapes and comes to constitute reality is so intractable that even death itself is no escape.

• I’m in no way an expert on this subject but have tried to verify the linked items. I’m open to corrections!

Processes and Policies Aren't Totally Bad

Normally, when I think about processes, I’m thinking about writing processes. I’m seeking to bring greater awareness of a non-linear exploratory set of writing practices to my students, or I’m thinking about process compared to product. 

Lately, though, I’ve been thinking about processes in terms of policy. Sometimes the limitations of policies seem aggravating at best and designed to prevent meaningful work. We have to present this for a discussion no one wants to have in order to eventually have a vote few have enough information to meaningfully make. The policy establishes a limiting process that seems designed to steer a system but no one is actually in control. Or no one admits to being in control.

Taking ownership of decisions becomes unnecessary as policies are deemed to be responsible for situations. And the outcome is likely to be stagnation. I’ve spent too long reading about bureaucracies and feeling incredibly frustrated by them.

I see a lot of problems with policies and processes set out by them. I’ve been critical of this aspect of how various groups and  institutions work for a long time. 

But recently, I’ve come to appreciate policies that set forth processes. Sometimes, it’s good to have widely understood ways of doing something, to have agreed-upon or at least explained priorities and ways of approaching decisions. I guess sometimes it is good to see the upside to things that are perpetually annoying.