Pournelle’s Iron Law

EDITOR’S NOTE - A shorter version of this piece was published in the original Pigs and Sheep blog September 2015.

A long-time friend recently queried me about an organization called The Atlas Network. Objectivists and (some) libertarians are attuned to all things “Atlas,” given the enduring influence of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, and any use of the word is a signal that liberty is afoot.

I never heard of The Atlas Network, but a quick perusal of its website gave me the gist. Its “about” reads:

Atlas Network is the hub of the worldwide freedom movement, connecting hundreds of independent nonpartisan organizations that share the common values of individual rights and free enterprise. Over nearly half a century of assisting think tank and civil society entrepreneurs, we’ve developed a proven model for increasing the effectiveness of people and teams that seek to advance the cause of liberty.

It’s a noble proposition.

Unfortunately, it runs into a structural problem in the liberty movement. The liberty-prone tend not to be joiners or organizers or believers in structure. Many will do so, but we’re not wired the way collectivists are, so we do so out of convenience rather than true desire. More importantly, we are less apt to be committed to the organization, especially when it doesn’t perfectly align with our personal views and goals. We’re less apt to put the entity ahead of principles.

Those that are more apt to do so are also more apt to subordinate or even forget the organization’s original purpose.

Jerry Pournelle, a prolific science fiction writer, blessed us with a particular bit of wisdom that the dubbed the Iron Law of Bureaucracy.

It states:

…in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children, vs. union representatives who work to protect any teacher including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions.

This is why liberty movements do not perform that well, even in a nation founded on liberty and awash in liberty-loving people.

This is why Eric Hoffer’s aphorism about movements is so persistently accurate.

This is why government sucks, why government shouldn’t be relied upon to do the right thing, why socialism and communism will never work, and why free markets are the only real path to prosperity for all. It’s why NASA isn’t to whom we should look for innovation and advancement in space It’s why defense spending is horribly inefficient. It’s why companies almost inevitably become sclerotic and vulnerable to competition from small startups as they grow, and why they don’t remain ascendant forever. It’s why all those who work or worked for big companies eventually figure out that the bean counters run the show.

People may not want to believe that laws like this and the economics of the free market are as inexorable and irrefutable as gravity. People may want to believe that someone, a true Best-and-Brightest, can overcome these realities. No one can. This is the reality of the world. Our path forward lies in recognizing reality rather than trying to outwit it.

Is there a path forward?

Maybe, maybe not. If there is, it’s uphill, almost Sisyphean. However, try we must, because the alternative is surrender.

That path isn’t a mystery. It’s what libertarians have been arguing for decades. It calls for starving the beast. Weakening the Leviathan. Shrinking the size, scope, and power of government so that those who chase power via institutional capture get there and find that there isn’t as much power as they hoped.

And that path starts with every one of us reflexively saying “no” to “should the government try to make X better?” and demanding that government stick to the basics of protecting individual and property rights, enforcing contracts, and providing for the national defense. Yes, this means saying “no” to ideas you like and spending you think worthwhile, and accepting that those worthy goals will be corrupted and “captured” by the cynical and self-serving.

If we liberate ourselves from nirvana fallacies and “don’t cut things I like” delusions, we might stand a chance.