Potentially relevant extra-credit reading, Scott Alexander's Book Review of Seeing Like a State by James Scott:
https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/03/16/book-review-seeing-like-a-state/
This perspective is foundational to my understanding of bureaucracies and other large institutions.
As a counter-argument, Dominic Cummings's argument that it is ~impossible to reform bureaucracies. The only plausible path to improvement is replacing moribund institutions with new startups, explicitly with different institutional cultures.
https://dominiccummings.substack.com/p/regime-change-2-a-plea-to-silicon
Not endorsed, but worth grappling with.
biology agrees somewhat; it's much much harder to repair a body into immortality than to simply have offspring with newly built bodies
Venue:
Olde Orchard pub & grill at 20 Prince Arthur street W.
Date & Time: Saturday, October 15th, 2022 1pm.
Description:
Come on out to the ACX (Astral Codex Ten) Montreal Meetup. We will be hosting a discussion on bureaucracy and the theories behind collective action.
We will be exploring how bureaucracies function in practice and theory. Practical ideas include how to navigate and establish bureaucracies. It is impressive that people are able to come together to work at scale in these organizations but few seem to operate to their fullest potential.
Recommended reading:
How To Use Bureaucracies by Samo Burja (18m read) explores the origins of a bureaucracy as a means of accomplishing things.
For fans of history, Jean Monnet: The Guerilla Bureaucrat (20m read) by Martin Sustrik is an entertaining and fascinating look at someone who was able to work around the bureaucratic system to accomplish a great many things in his lifetime.
Doing the reading is recommended but feel free to come to the meetup even if you forget or don't have time to.
Please try to RSVP as a reservation will be made at the restaurant.