Bureaucracy and Courage

Here's a phrase I never expected to utter: "One cheer for Elon Musk!" Yep, I have to hand it to the Tesla architect and SpaceX pioneer who has shown us all that government bureaucracy is no friend of working people, economic growth, or the Constitution. 

Elon Musk

According to Musk, an "unelected and ignorant Interim Health Officer" of Alameda County (California), ignoring "Constitutional freedoms and just plain common sense," decided that Musk's Tesla plant should not reopen for business. Musk, so incensed about this seemingly capricious decision by a local bureaucrat, plans not only to sue the county but also to move his manufacturing operations from California to Nevada or Texas.

As expected, Musk defied the local authorities and opened the Alameda plant on Monday. It's now up and running, with Musk claiming he has joined his employees on the production line. Of course, the relevant local government agencies, when asked who was responsible for responding to this violation of the county's mandates, all pointed in different directions. The county sheriff's office, the local police, and the county health office each suggested that others should address the issue. Musk went on to state that he'll be in the plant and "if anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me." Predictably, the county caved and will now allow the plant to open next Monday, even though it's been open all week. Go figure!

Yes, Elon Musk is controversial and more than a little odd. He claims to be "socially liberal and fiscally conservative," a far too common but contradictory blend of beliefs that betrays a lack of moral foundation. But on this issue he's absolutely correct. Can anyone really doubt his company's ability to open the Alameda plant safely? I'm pretty sure Musk's production people can run things better and more safely than most supermarkets. Our local Walmart, for example, seems to have done little to encourage safe shopping. Other than the sanitizing of shopping cart handles, I've seen few changes. It's no wonder Musk's employees (and many investors) think highly of him. Personally, if I had money to invest, which I don't, I probably wouldn't invest in Musk's companies. But if my past decisions are any guide, I'm not the best source for investment advice.

Anyhow, all of this led me to think a bit about leadership, good management, bureaucracy, and courage. Let me begin with a simple truth: when an announced policy applies to everyone without exception and under all circumstances, it ceases being a policy and becomes instead an inflexible rule. 

The problem with rules is that they do not allow for interpretation but are applied unthinkingly to every situation. Certainly, some rules are necessary. For example, no passenger on an airplane would want the pilot to fly intoxicated. Requiring a pilot to be sober is a good rule and demands little interpretation. But too often, because rules are easy to make and enforce, lazy managers prefer rules over policies. In the same way, bureaucrats and incompetent politicians deal with problems by applying the same solution regardless of geography and demographics. But such reliance on inflexible rules is driven by more than laziness or incompetence. It also indicates a lack of courage. It takes little courage to defend the application of a rule: "They disobeyed the executive order and must accept the consequences." How often have we heard such words from governors and bureaucrats?  

It's far more difficult to interpret a policy, applying it as needed to differing situations. The development, application, and interpretation of policies is hard work. The decision maker must actually seek out and listen to the varying opinions of others and be willing to change the policy as conditions change or new information arises. It also takes courage because it demands a willingness to admit mistakes, to say, "I was wrong!"

The president, through his federalist approach, has issued policy guidelines and encouraged the governors to apply them wisely to their states' unique situations. He realizes that there can be no "one size fits all" approach in a nation as large and diverse as the United States. Unfortunately, many of our state governors are far from wise and fail to understand this. One can only hope that their actions are simply the result of stupidity and not motivated by something more sinister, by motives that place political considerations above the good of the country and the lives of its citizens. 

Latest update: Musk has been talking with Texas governor, Greg Abbott. According to the governor, “I’ve had the opportunity to talk to Elon Musk and he’s genuinely interested in Texas and genuinely frustrated with California,...We’ve just got to wait and see how things play out.”

The Diplomacy of St. John Paul

I just received the latest issue of First Things, one of the few journals I could not do without. If you don't subscribe to First Things I urge you to do so. You won't regret it unless you dislike being challenged...end of commercial.

Opening this latest issue I turned first to the lead article, Lessons in Statecraft, by George Weigel. Weigel, probably best known as the historian-biographer of the papacy of St. John Paul II, offers the reader a glimpse of the pope-saint as diplomat and statesman. Although this great pope was first and foremost a man of faith, he was also, out of necessity, a world leader who, as Weigel suggests, used a "different toolkit" from that of the typical politician and diplomat. The times, typified by the ongoing cold war waged between East and West, demanded the active presence of a witness who could stand on the global stage and call for the defense of religious freedom. And more than anything else, St. John Paul II was a true witness who, as if responding to Joe Stalin's famous question -- "The Pope? How many divisions has he got?" -- simply says, "The Church doesn't need armies. She has Jesus Christ."

In his article Weigel offers seven "lessons" distilled from the statecraft of this remarkable pope. I'll list them here, along with just a brief comment or two, but I hope you will take the time to read Weigel's entire article. One can only hope that our current generation of politicians and diplomats, who have made such a mess of the world, will also read it and perhaps take a few of these lessons to heart.

Lesson 1: Culture drives history. John Paul rejected the prevailing ideologies that fallaciously assume history is driven by politics, or power, or materialism, or economics, or any other "ism". History, he believed, is driven by culture. As Weigel says, "...at the center of culture is cult, or religion: what people believe, cherish, and worship; what people are willing to stake their lives, and their children's lives, on." I first encountered this lesson many years ago in the writings of Christopher Dawson, one of the last century's greatest historians. If you haven't read Dawson, do so. Perhaps the best overview of his thought can be found in Dynamics of World History.

Lesson 2: Ideas count, for good and for ill. Few of today's politicians seem to understand this truth. Too many see movements like Jihadism and dismiss its stated beliefs, the ideas that brought it to life, as irrelevant and attribute its existence to more convenient and politically correct causes. Pope John Paul took ideas seriously because he realized how powerful they were.

Lesson 3: Don't psychologize the adversary. Trying to change the behavior of ideologues through psychological means -- "If we're nice to them they'll forget about making that bomb" -- will always be perceived as weakness by the adversary who will inevitably take advantage of what is offered. An ideologue is, in effect, a slave to his ideology and will use all available means to advance it.

Lesson 4: Speak loudly and be supple in deploying whatever sticks, large or small, you have at hand. Pope John Paul, probably as a result of his years spent under both Nazi and Communist rule, understood the power of the bully pulpit and used it to perfection. He also knew when to approach a situation as a "quiet persuader" to achieve the ends he sought.

Lesson 5: Listen to the martyrs. For almost two decades the persecuted Christians behind the Iron Curtain were largely ignored in the hope that such appeasement would lessen future persecution. It didn't. Pope John Paul, who had witnessed martyrdom firsthand, realized this and didn't hesitate to publicly acknowledge "the witness of [the Church's] sons and daughters who had taken the risk of freedom and paid the price for it."

Lesson 6: Think long-term and do not sacrifice core principles to what seems immediate advantage. Pope John Paul understood well the Church's core values and would do nothing to jeopardize them. The Church, for example, cannot be true to its primary mission of evangelization if it enters into agreements with political powers that place severe limitations on its ability to carry out this mission. Or, as Weigel states when describing the pope's refusal to agree to a political accommodation proposed by Poland's communist government, "In John Paul II's ecclesiology, the Church could not be a partisan political actor because that role contradicted the Eucharistic character of the Church."

Lesson 7: Media "reality" isn't necessarily reality. Pope John Paul II knew that the secular media, even those so-called "experts" on Church affairs, really don't have a clue when it comes to the Catholic Church. Almost universally they tend to view and report on the Church through lenses colored by their political and cultural biases. In other words, they are almost always wrong. Because they are largely irreligious, most media types consider religion to be irrelevant and fail to recognize the importance of religious issues to the majority of humanity. 

I hope my brief description of these lessons will lead you to read George Weigel's article and also encourage you to subscribe to First Things. 

Early Morning Thoughts

Every so often I can't resist the temptation to offer the readers of this blog -- a select group, a very select group -- some of the odd thoughts that strike me in the early morning hours. These thoughts usually arise after Morning Prayer and a quick perusal of the daily newspaper that arrives at my doorstep at about the same time I climb out of bed. Although most, probably all, are gross generalizations I make no attempt to explain or defend them. They are simply the result of personal observation and likely reflect my own prejudices...so take 'em or not.

Here are this morning's rather random thoughts, each distilled to a sentence or two and offered in the order in which they arose in my aging, increasingly confused brain.

The holiest people in the Church are in the pews, not in the sanctuary.

A bishop who courageously and publicly defends the Church and it's teachings will fill the pews and the seminary.

If a new technology can be abused, it will be. And the amount of abuse is directly proportional to the amount of power the technology puts in the hands of the abuser. 

When given complete freedom of choice, a government agency will choose incorrectly. In other words, it will take the action that leads to the worst outcome.

For a politician, self-interest trumps national interest.

Failed leadership results from the desire to control rather than serve.

It would seem I've become a bit of a cynic, but that's to be expected of someone who believes in original sin. God's peace...