Clear and Present Danger…the Fourth Branch of Government (Federal Bureaucracy) …Rational Control

“Bureaucracies are inherently antidemocratic.  Bureaucrats derive their power from their position in the structure, not from their relations with the people they are supposed to serve.  The people are not the master of the bureaucracy, but its clients.”  Alan Keys

My wife and I watched the 1994 “Clear and Present Danger” movie the other night.  The movie is about  dangers that exist both inside and outside of our Country:  politicians rather than Statesman, drugs, drug cartels, concern for self over concern for others, political expediency, politically appointed bureaucrats with a lust for power.  These are clear and present dangers.  Sound familiar?  Not much has changed since 1994.

The movie, however, ends with a sense of hope.  A feeling that because one person of courage, one with a clear understanding of that which is right as opposed to that which is wrong, can make a positive difference. You walk away from the movie feeling like those politicians who broke the law and were willing to sacrifice the lives of others on their self-centered alters for power would face justice and be held accountable.

I looked at my wife and said, “I wish I could see this played out in the real world.  Instead, I see our Constitution degraded and ignored, laws openly disregarded by bureaucrats and elected politicians with no negative consequences or accountability, and mountains of rules and regulations enforced by unelected bureaucrats.  A cursory look at the flouting of the US immigration laws by the DHS, the CDC mandates (“guidelines”) from unelected doctors regarding health, the bloated IRS tax code, the politization of the Department of Justice, the EPA politicization of energy production, the forced taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood, which is responsible for nearly 9,000,000 abortions since 1967, to name a few, all tell the story of the power of the unelected Fourth Branch of Government.

“The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse.”  Edmund Burke

Bureaucracy is not necessarily evil. It can be considered a necessary-evil.  Any Organization, private or government requires a system, and those who manage the system in order to operate successfully.  The danger is that and the system and the system managers may become more interested in controlling than serving.  Max Weber, German Sociologist, (1864-1920) was an important theorist regarding bureaucracy.

Although he was not necessarily an admirer of bureaucracy, Weber saw bureaucratization as the most efficient and rational way of organizing human activity and therefore as the key to rational-legal authority, indispensable to the modern world. Furthermore, he saw it as the key process in the ongoing rationalization of Western society. Weber also saw bureaucracy, however, as a threat to individual freedoms, and the ongoing bureaucratization as leading to a “polar night of icy darkness”, in which increasing rationalization of human life traps individuals in a soulless “iron cage” of bureaucratic, rule-based, rational control. (Bureaucracy – Wikipedia)

“Rational control”…very interesting!   When a bureaucracy and/or a bureaucrat becomes overtly politically and/or career motivated he/she then becomes the master rather than the servant. This is rational control. The bureaucrat controls that which is considered reason or logic.  The bureaucrat justifies this through the belief that they are virtuous by creating/providing order and efficiency.  This may be true, if, the person being “served” chooses this “service” as an option to other services through choice and transparency, thereby recognizing other reasoning or logical arguments.  If there are no other options offered, the bureaucrat is an intruder into privacy, takes control, and thereby prevents virtuous choices by those being controlled.  The bureaucrat becomes the “thinker”, the “provider”, the “decision maker”.  The bureaucrat become the “convenience” that we just cannot do without.  That’s the plan!  Bigger government.  More bureaucrats.  More control.

The bureaucrat becomes the light that turns on automatically when I enter the room.  He becomes the toilet that flushes when I stand up.  He offers no options for a manual light switch or a toilet handle.  He says, “Let me do it.  Let me take care of you.  Let me control your life from cradle to grave.  No worries.”

I need to note here that I include professional, life-long, no term-limit politicians as bureaucrats.  Conservative and liberal included.  If government is their career, then rational control is their focus.  They are simply elected bureaucrats who have convinced enough people that they can be their provider.  Term limits is the only way to relieve them of their position within the bureaucratic structure.

Redistribution of tax dollars for the funding of abortions is an example of rational control.  Many find this morally wrong and do not want to fund this activity.  The bureaucrats and politicians who support this also see this activity and their control as virtuous.  They then manipulate the redistribution to silence those who object.  Transparency resulting in virtuous choice by the governed is not an option to them because it does not conform to their worldview.  However, for any action to be truly virtuous there must be choice.  The freedom to engage in thoughtful consideration of choices must be an option. To the bureaucrat this is time consuming and unnecessary. Surreptitious manipulation becomes the standard for best practices.

The quote below from Right to Life of Michigan explains how a bureaucratic “accounting gimmick” through Medicaid results in feigned transparency and governmental rational control:

“There is zero meaningful separation of staff, facilities, and operational costs at Planned Parenthood clinics between government-funded services and abortions. Federal contract rules allow taxpayer funds to pay staff salaries, supplies, and facility costs on a “pro-rated” basis. It is merely an accounting gimmick; tax dollars literally pay the rent and energy costs to keep abortion clinics running and funds staff that help perform abortions. Planned Parenthood claims abortion is inseparable from their mission, and with half of their budget coming from taxpayers, it’s safe to say our tax dollars are inseparable from their abortion mission.”

The mandate to wear a mask for the greater good is another example.  “Wear a mask or lose your job” says the bureaucrat.  “Wear a mask or you can’t travel.”  “Wear a mask, get a shot, get two shots, get three shots, even though it does not seem to make a positive difference.  I will decide who is “essential” and who is not. Trust me!  I will take care of you!” Control!

Polar night of icy darkness Max Weber

Are we entering, or are we in that “polar night of icy darkness” predicted by Max Weber? Perhaps.  I can’t turn on a news broadcast without getting a feeling of despair and a sense of being controlled.  But is there hope?  The end of the movie implied that there is hope to be found in selfless individuals who are willing to take the risk on the side of truth.  I have not lost faith in that.  However, I don’t believe there will be any lasting hope or release from the darkness through purely human efforts or human governments.  Christ is my Hope.

It was at this point in writing down my thoughts that I sat back and asked myself why I started writing about this in the first place.  Two reasons:

First, this morning I decided to read the Declaration of Independence.  This is something I have done many times near or on the 4^th of July.  However, this time, I spent time not only reading the document but also spent time reading the names of the signers.  I thought about the extraordinary sacrifice they and their families must of endured, and the courage they exhibited by signing this document. 

They were from many backgrounds.  There were lawyers, merchants, surveyors, doctors. and clergy.  They had families, property, hopes and dreams.  They were ordinary people.  There were 56 signers. The youngest signer was Edward Rutledge, at 26 years old, and the oldest was Benjamin Franklin, at 70 years old.

I was surprised when I found that George Washington was not a signer.  He was in New York with the Continental Army at the time.  It was George Washington, his example of unwavering servant leadership, his acceptance to serve as the first President and refusal to rule as King, along with his voluntary limitation on terms of service as President that demonstrated to me he was a Statesman, not a bureaucrat or professional politician.  The contrast between Washington and our President today could not be more striking!  I had to organize my thoughts in writing. It is therapeutic.

Second, I had just listened to our Pastor Sunday morning speak about how to have certainty in uncertain times. He referred to examples in Scripture (John chapters 20 and 21) of how Jesus’ followers dealt with the uncertainty they experienced after His crucifixion.  The followers’ responses to this extreme period of uncertainty included: an emotional response, a fear-filled response, doubt-filled response, and a do-nothing response.  He pointed out that although they experienced this myriad of responses to their uncertainty they, ultimately, came to understand that Jesus himself was the answer to finding certainty in uncertain times. 

After listening to our Pastor I thought about the parallels between how Jesus’ followers handled the uncertainty in their time, and how the signers of the Declaration of Independence may have handled their uncertainty.  Clearly there was emotion, there was fear, there was doubt, and I found that there was a period of do-nothing time.  There was a period of months following the first signature of John Hancock, July 4^th 1776, to the final signature of Thomas McKean believed to have signed the Declaration as late as March of 1777, or as late as 1781.  A period of “do-nothing” may be too strong of a term to use, although there were some Delegates to the Continental Congress who voted for independence but chose not to sign the Document.  Why?  Perhaps fear or doubt.  

There was, however, clearly a time of reflection and introspection for both Jesus’ followers and the signers of the Declaration.  Jesus’ followers decided to go back to what they knew and understood…they went fishing (John 21:3).  The signers of the Declaration had to go back to their jobs and families.  Some were literally fleeing from the British.  Thomas McKean, the last to sign, wrote to John Adams about being, “hunted like a fox by the enemy, compelled to remove my family five times in three months, and at last fixed them in a little log-house on the banks of the Susquehanna.” McKean had five children and his second wife pregnant with number six at the time. (The Last Signers of the Declaration by Karen A. Chase – May 30, 2019).

So…can we, today, find certainty in times of uncertainty?  Can we engage with the “clear and present dangers” that we face in our time with confidence of success?  Can we deal with bureaucracies and bureaucrats who see virtue in controlling our lives and thoughts?  I believe the answer is a resounding “Yes!”.

Jesus’ followers certainly found it through Scripture, through prayer, through trust, through faith…in Christ Jesus.  What about the Declaration signers?  They wrote in the Constitution preamble:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

For more insight into this I refer you to the article, “The Christian Setting of the Declaration of Independence”, Christian Heritage Fellowship by Dr. Stephen Flick, July 1, 2022.

Jesus said:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  Matthew 11: 28,29

Today, July 4, 2022, be blessed, be encouraged.  God has not left us drifting aimlessly in an ocean of fear and doubt.  He has given us the freedom of choice and the ability to respond with virtue in the face of, seeming, uncertainty.  Happy Independence Day!

Mike