When I think about the United States of America, I think about one big bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is: management or administration marked by hierarchical authority among numerous offices and by fixed procedures. Max Weber, a famous sociologist, was the first person to write down the proper characteristics of a fully functional bureaucracy, this is called an ideal bureaucracy. On paper (the constitution)the US has an ideal bureaucracy and everything in it is understood as being rational.
The goal of human governments is to reach rationality,the state were everything and everyone acts in a understandable, predictable and "safe" manner. People want rationalization because it brings an increased efficiency, predictability, and calculability. The goal is to increase the ability of man to manipulate his environment, to adapt, to conquer the chaotic elements of life so as to obtain a quality of life that can be considered ‘better’ than previous times. If we look closely at the way the US government works though we find that not all its actions are rational. According to George Ritzer, rationalization is growing out of control.
So how can it be explained why the US government even though it has its guideline for a perfect bureaucracy is not able to achieve it? According to George Ritzer, the US government suffers from the paradox called "irrationality of rationality." This means that even though it works in a strictly rational environment many irrational events or tasks occur. An example are the camps created for Japanese Americans during the second world war. Even though these men and woman were indeed Americans the bureaucracy allowed for their rights to be suspended. The procedures and the paper work all followed a rational path but the outcome was irrational, the deprivation of rights of American citizens.
The paradox of "irrationality of rationality" is something to keep in mind. As the US government becomes more and more rational, the possibilities for irrational outcomes become greater and greater.
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I agree that the government is becoming irrational. I think it's because they are more in it for power now, rather than what is best for the people. From the definition given by "rational" I would say that the government is being the exact opposite. In the past, I can see how rationality of the government was the politician's main goal, but yet it sometimes became irrational. However, I see the government becoming more and more irrational without even trying to be rational in the first place. When they don't tell us the whole truth about issues, or say and do anything to be elected, I see it more being about power rather than being rational, which is exactly why I favor less government.
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