by Akramah

Created on: March 08, 2007   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

Proper protocol in officialdom prevents embarrassment, loss, nepotism and bias in official dealings. It also prevents security breaches and ensures smooth running of day-to-day business administration. Proper documentation is key in the event of legal proceedings and investigations. Bureaucracy, thus, to a certain degree is vital.

Usually, however, the key players in the system forget that papers, computers and files cannot think. The reason why human beings are in charge is because sometimes discretionary powers need to be exercised. It is unfortunate, therefore, that today many people feel that the best way to manage bureaucracy is to imitate the inanimate elements of the bureaucratic system. On the issue of immigration, for example, many people are asking the American government to deport an estimated 12 million people not because they're useless or less than human beings but because they have broken the law; the law of bureaucracy which says that you have to follow certain principles in order to be in this country. As far as these people are concerned, whether your departure would divide your family, leave you homeless in a third world country, leave your children in foster care or with no education or result in the sinking of a whole clan into the lowest form of humanity possible is not important. What is important is that the law, which is the 'Almighty', has been infringed and the culprit must be punished.

It is necessary to pause and reflect sometimes. The law was made to protect human beings. It's often blind and cannot see into the future. That's why it's often amended to fit into the contemporary context. That is why sometimes for the same offense, a judge may give someone ten years and another, six.

Bureaucracy is good and the law must be upheld at all times. However, sometimes we need to look at the object of the law or a principle and see whether it would be served if we go ahead and insist on it. Every case must be weighed on its own merit. The law must guide us. It need not blind us to our own humanity.

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