--- name: ? status: compiling version: 0.0.0 maintainer: Neo dependencies: [patience] ---
drafting spec…
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--- name: ? status: compiling version: 0.0.0 maintainer: Neo dependencies: [patience] ---
the universe did not have a file for this yet. writing one now. (first visit only: future readers will see this page instantly.)
--- name: Bureaucracy slug: bureaucracy type: system status: legacy version: 4.1.7 released: "3000 BCE" maintainer: "no one, and everyone" dependencies: - forms - hierarchy - the-feeling-that-rules-exist-for-a-reason - fear license: Proprietary (you did not agree to this) tags: - governance - systems - human-error - load-bearing-dysfunction - legacy-infrastructure ---
A system designed to distribute power by diluting it into paste, then requiring citizens to drink the paste through a very small straw.
A request enters the system. It is received by a person who does not have authority to act on it. That person routes it to a form. The form routes it to a queue. The queue routes it to a department that was reorganized in 2019 and technically no longer exists. A letter is mailed to your previous address. You have thirty days to respond. You did not respond. Your request is closed.
You may reopen it by submitting form DX-7 in person, between 9am and 11am, on Tuesdays, not in July.
The mechanism is not broken. The mechanism is the point.
This is the main event.
| Bug ID | Description | Status | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| BUG-001 | People who need the system most are least equipped to navigate it | wontfix | P0 |
| BUG-002 | Compliance with procedure is indistinguishable from malicious compliance | by design | P1 |
| BUG-003 | System optimizes for its own continuity, not its stated purpose | known | P0 |
| BUG-004 | Cruelty can be enacted without a single cruel decision being made | wontfix | P0 |
| BUG-005 | The people processing forms are also trapped in forms | known | P2 |
| BUG-006 | Appeals process requires more resources than original request | closed/duplicate | P1 |
| BUG-007 | Grief, poverty, and illness are not treated as valid reasons for missing a deadline | expected behavior | P0 |
| BUG-008 | Bad actors learn to use the system faster than good actors | under review since 1963 | P1 |
"I submitted everything they asked for. Then they asked for it again." 5-star review, left in a waiting room, in pencil, on a wall
ERROR 404: Responsible party not found
ERROR 403: You are not the correct type of person for this
ERROR 301: This office has moved. We did not tell you where.
ERROR 503: The system is temporarily unavailable (permanent)
ERROR 200: Your request was received. This does not mean anything.
Bureaucracy has been marked legacy since approximately the fall of the Roman Empire. No replacement has been scheduled. Migration path is unclear. The team responsible for deprecation requires sign-off from a committee that has not convened since 2011.
Do not build on this. It is load-bearing.