I shouldn’t get so angry.
asserted
I → get → ?
Last month, New York state summoned me to jury duty.
asserted
state → summon → duty
I went, of course.
asserted
I → go → course
It’s the law, and my obligation.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
A jury may protect the innocent from government abuse: Ordinary citizens, not officials, decide if you are guilty.
uncertain
you → protect → abuse
But doing our patriotic duty shouldn’t mean surrendering hours of our lives to bureaucratic indifference.
asserted
doing → do → indifference
Serving justice is important.
asserted
Serving → serve → justice
Sitting around doing nothing isn’t.
asserted
Sitting → sit → nothing
During my 50 years of consumer reporting, I’ve watched greedy capitalists constantly make improvements and find better ways to do things.
asserted
capitalists → watch → things
They use computers, adjust hours, reduce wait times and so on.
asserted
They → use → times
If they don’t, we consumers quickly switch to competitors who will.
asserted
who → do → competitors
But government bureaucracies — courts, the DMV, the passport office — have no competitors.
asserted
bureaucracies → have → competitors
So they don’t try very hard.
asserted
they → try → ?
Government can just operate by force.
asserted
Government → operate → force
My summons arrived on paper, in the mail.
asserted
summons → arrive → mail
Most businesses now communicate with customers instantly, by text or email.
asserted
businesses → communicate → text
Airlines send boarding passes to our phones; doctors text reminders; restaurants send notifications when our table is ready.
asserted
table → send → notifications
But government sends paper.
asserted
government → send → paper
We summoned jurors meekly arrive at the courthouse and wait.
And wait.
asserted
We → summon → courthouse
I’m old; it’s important that I hydrate.
asserted
I → ’m → ?
At least government provides a water cooler and a drinking fountain.
asserted
government → provide → cooler
Oh, damn, neither works.
asserted
neither → work → ?
We sit another hour.
asserted
We → sit → ?
Eventually, a bored clerk drones through long instructions on how fill out a form.
asserted
clerk → drone → form
Printed instructions would be better — a video would be much better.
But this is government, and government bureaucracies have little incentive to innovate.
Finally, clerks choose 80 of us to be considered for a criminal trial.
asserted
80 → print → trial
“Wait in the hall,” we’re told.
asserted
we → wait → hall
We wait.
asserted
We → wait → ?
Then they tell us, “Go across the street to another building, and wait there.”
asserted
they → tell → building
We go.
asserted
We → go → ?
After an hour, we’re admitted into a courtroom, where another bureaucrat tells us, “Come back Monday.”
asserted
bureaucrat → admit → us
Imagine an airline telling 80 passengers, “Welcome to the airport.
asserted
airline → imagine → airport
No airline would survive doing that — but courts don’t have competition.
asserted
courts → survive → competition
When court finally starts, a stenographer types away, recording what people say.
asserted
people → start → what
Computers today transcribe speech instantly, accurately, at almost no cost — but New York taxpayers still pay someone to type every word.
asserted
taxpayers → transcribe → word
Amazon experiments with faster delivery; supermarkets install self-checkout machines; banks let us deposit checks just by photographing them with our phones.
asserted
us → experiment → phones
Capitalism protects your time while bureaucrats waste it.
asserted
bureaucrats → protect → it
Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman explained why by pointing out that there are four ways to spend money:
- Spend your money on yourself.
asserted
Friedman → win → yourself
Then you’re very careful about both cost and quality.
asserted
you → ’re → cost
You’re careful about the cost, but don’t care as much about the quality.
asserted
You → ’re → quality
You care less about cost, but still care about quality.
asserted
You → care → quality
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
