By The Desert Rat
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A little while ago a friend of mine passed along a copy of an unpublished essay penned by now deceased J. H. Habermeyer, a professor of Political Science and Economics at RPI for many years. The Seven Walls of Local Government is a short, engaging and literary essay on the ways that local government erects defenses around its doings and, ultimately, how bureaucracies and bureaucrats use different techniques to obscure, obfuscate, defend, and protect themselves in what they do. The literary trope is The Wall.
I will present Professor Habermeyer’s essay in seven appropriate installments. The first portion includes his pithy introduction. Here it is.
The Seven Walls of Local Government
There is an old adage in political science circles that the business of government is to keep its business secret. This is so universally true that the idea has indeed become axiomatic – even among those for whom such a notion is not one to cause disapprobation. And yet, in a democracy, the instruments of government are theoretically answerable to a sovereignty that inheres in the people. Therefore, in a democratic government the niceties of popular participation must be paid obeisance while the individual government activities themselves will remain obscured by the clouds of procedural complexity, alleged expertise and technical obfuscation; thus: to represent government affairs through a glass, darkly.
Read the rest of “The Seven Walls of Local Government; Wall #1: Public Indifference”
Great post – I look forward to the rest. Local government often fosters this indifference by burying the important in a sea of minutia that would put even the most die hard to sleep. Local government has become masters of the misdescription using “comparison salary” data, or the equivalent, to make outrageous misspending appear ordinary.
Then stop whining and get off your duff and do something about it.
Whining? I put my money where my mouth is and don’t do it anonymously.
“J. H. Habermeyer, a professor of Political Science and Economics at RPI”
I can find no such person. What’s RPI? Why no record of a “J.H. Habermeyer”? At least I can’t find one.
Roy. While this may not be the same RPI I do have friends who were/are professors at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) located in Troy, NY.
Like yourself I did a Google search and came up empty. Let’s see Tony’s response.
Response? I didn’t do that post. I do know that lots of stuff about old-timers is not to be found on the internet.
That is all.
Tony. The Juice post is attributed to you. Perhaps the real author will come forward.
Larry. Tony posts things here from all his FFFF authors. And to avoid this confusion, he began a month or two ago – at my urging – to put the author’s name up at the top when it isn’t him. See – it says “by the Desert Rat.” One of his many pseudonymous contributors.
So, is the RAT gonna come on and answer this burning question, Tony? A lot of us want to know more about this Habermeyer, or if he’s fictional!
And also, around what year was it written? That would just be interesting to know. Sipowicz is assuming it was decades ago, just because of the occurrence of the word “mimeographed.”
As always, to find the most responses to these FFFF cross-posts, it’s best to click to read the rest of the story. All of this is being discussed over there, on the FFFF blog. I myself tried to find this writer yesterday, just like Roy. It is a good piece.
Why would the Desert Rat refer to something as obscure as Rensselaer in Troy NY offhandedly as “RPI?”
Brother Vern. Now my handle is “desert rat?”
Well, it’s true. I have spent some time in the desert. In Tony’s article he refers to a professor at RPI. While there are surely more than one institution with those letters who call themselves RPI, Rensselaer is one I have personal knowledge of due to my dozen years as an industry volunteer.
In the meantime I do like Tony’s post and am looking forward to future reports. Tony mentioned RPI in the post. That is why some of still engage in “trust, but verify” to learn something about the author of the report whose name Tony provided.
My guess is the Rat comes from somewhere upstate New York way, but I really don’t know the Rat that well.
Hm – well then Larry’s guess maybe IS right!