On the nature of government and bureaucracy...

So tonight was the SGA Budget Meeting - which every semester never fails to get me riled up and energized to change things. (Odd, I know...) My frustrations with how SGA functions are three-fold:

1) It’s not really a democracy – it’s oligarchy. Most people there are uninformed or don’t care. Those who have the knowledge and power can make proposals, judgments, and arguments with little questioning. They can also cut off discussion to move to a vote without the consent of a majority. That’s not right. That makes me mad. The point of Forum is to thoroughly discuss proposals that come to us and make decisions for the good of all. But that cannot happen when people do not fully understand the proposal, or opinions are stifled.

2) Unless an organization is present to represent their interests, knowledgeable about how things work, and willing to voice their opinions, they can very easily get screwed over. You have to be there, and you have to understand how to “work the system” in order to protect yourself - because no one else will.

3) Finally, the rules/precedent/way of doing things is so entrenched that it is very difficult to change. The Finance & Organizations Committee makes up their own rules or interprets the rules to their liking. And for the sake of “consistency” there can never be any exceptions or flexibility – it is always set in stone.

However, the paradox for me in all of this is this: while I try my best to “fight the system” in Forum, I am also part of “the system” in my role as Director of Outreach. I have the power to deny requests for programming or funding. And as much as I decry the rules of SGA, I find myself enforcing my own rules when it comes to Outreach. I too can be inflexible – even if people are doing a good thing, if it doesn’t fit with our criteria or policy, I can’t approve it. I don’t know if that’s right or wrong – or just a virtue of being in a position where I have to make choices about what programming and funding to do and what not to do. But it feels like being part of any organization inevitably breeds this bureaucratic mindset that it narrowly focused on that organization’s goals and precedent and criteria, and cannot see other perspectives or flex at all. It’s certainly necessary to have standards for making decisions, but do we take it too far? I don’t know… It’s just interesting to see it from both sides...