成人快手

"Attacking bureaucracies is like attacking the Atlantic ocean. It's a waste of time."

In this new episode of Archive on Four, Joe Queenan dispenses with the standard approach to bureaucracy and looks for the good in all the jobsworths round the globe. From the Sumerians to the Chinese, he discovers early civilisations finessed efficient ways of getting things done. Yet now many leaders, including Donald Trump, view bureaucracy as the deep state, the enemy within.

"When he talks about the deep state obstructing his agenda, he's really talking about some 50,000 bureaucrats. I'm sure most bureaucrats would love to be buried deep in the state. It gives them mystery and allure. It's just weird how he's rebranded them in this way."

This is Joe Queenan's fifteenth Brief History for Radio 4. This one includes special sections on the French and the 成人快手, plus the genesis of Parkinson's Law.. As well as the next US president, you can hear Sir Robin Butler, Frances Wood, Sir Gus O'Donnell, business guru Guy Browning, classicist Professor Edith Hall, former 成人快手 correspondent John Sergeant, ex-super-bureaucrat TJ Elliott, and Rory Sutherland of the Spectator who explains the importance of Pournelle's Iron Law:

"In any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy always get in control. Those dedicated to the goals the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and are sometimes eliminated entirely."

Joe Queenan is the author of Balsamic Dreams and Closing Time., His previous shows for Radio 4 include Postcard from Gotham, Wonderful Ways to Make a Living plus archive programmes on Irony, Failure, Cunning and Lust.

The producer for 成人快手 Studios in Bristol is Miles Warde. Readings by Sarah Langan and Emily Knight.