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Old 12-14-2009, 11:31 AM   #26
zerospinboson
"Assume a can opener..."
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pilotbob View Post
It really wasn't the best book I ever read, but I am glad I read it. It was a very short book and a quick read... and some of the parts were a bit humorous (more so than that Three Men and a Boat one).
BOb
I don't know which translation you read, but if it was the one available here on MR, you should note the comment I made on the translation, namely that a lot of the jokes are sort of lost in the translation. The translation by Breon Mitchell does a lot better at least in that respect.
There are, however, in any case, a lot of the jokes about bureaucrats, the way in which stupid policemen assert their authority in their own little way because they feel that's what's being asked of them, etc. (Much like you would never want to tease a TSA or police officer in the USA: They can do whatever they want in return, and the latter especially can then charge you with "obstruction", "resisting arrest", or "assault" whenever they feel like it.) The system has so many weird and hard-to-explain consequences for individuals (in how small-minded officials think they should behave themselves "as a police officer," and how they should tolerate no lip of any kind, etc.) as well as for anyone "accused" (take things as slowly as possible, don't not-show when you're summoned to court), who need never understand why they've been drawn into this weird netherworld, and will likely feel they don't deserve this (for very good reason), and will then resist, and cast "suspicion" upon themselves for not showing enough respect.

Imagine, for instance, filing a suit against your local county for not giving you a building permit when they should. You file, they wait until the last possible day to submit the stuff they have to submit in order not lose by default, then you wait for the judiciary to move. Then you file your stuff again, they wait until the term is up, and they file something again.
Meanwhile, however, you have to pay a lawyer (while the county likely has one on a retainer/costing them a flat fee per year), and your costs are running up quickly. You play this game until you've won, but by then you will have been unable to build whatever you were planning for 2-3 years, meaning you have been unable to invest this money elsewhere, and you've probably been billed about $200k in lawyer's fees.
Now that you've won, you will have to file a separate suit for reparations (your lawyer's fees, mostly, as well as losses incurred through not being able to do what you wanted).. Which might take another 1-2 years. Does lawyering sound like fun already?

Admittedly the things the lawyers in the Trial do seem a bit more arcane and less useful, but it's not that far from today's experience either.
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