Like Orwell and Huxley, author Franz Kafka predicted in fiction the rise of the rigid, absurdist, all-powerful bureaucratic state in 1925's The Trial. Interesting Literature explores novel's critique of the Borg-like state.

Bureaucracy is an outdated, centralised control system for organisations that do not work with an ethos of co-creation and that do not believe in shared value. So says Petra Andersen in Apolitical. It's past-time to break free of this arcane model.

James Plunkett notes that the problem with gov't runs deep; it’s not enough to try harder, or to run things better, because at least part of the problem relates to the logic by which bureaucracy functions. He provides useful systemic steps to break the bonds of bureaucracy.

To fix housing, transit, the economy, and the environment, unelected regional bodies are pushing through Plan Bay Area 2050+. But in a recent Substack post, SHIFT-Bay Area argues the scheme is based on fantastical population assumptions and rife with environmental insults; moreover, the planners can’t explain where the money will come from.

Just like in SJ and SCC, LA County BOS recently approved a half-cent sales tax for the June ballot to backfill federal, and state, healthcare funding cuts. But here’s the difference: 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger stood tall and argued forcefully against measure. She was the only Supe to vote No, because taxing Angelenos, she says, is the “tail wagging the dog.” Excerpted below are her comments at the 2/10/26 LA BOS meeting.

Wait, don't we elect representatives to, you know, represent us? Sac Bee explores why cities and counties feel the need to hire expensive lobbyists to get their way in statehouses--and how it runs counter to democratic assumptions.  

Daniel Borenstein, in a Mercury News opinion column, says that the State's recent short-term bail-out of regional mass transit agencies may, in fact, jeopardize the realization of South Bay transportation goals.