Some bureaucrat will enforce a written rule in such a way as to make the rule and the bureaucracy seem either ridiculous, tyrannical, or both.

North's law of bureaucratic expansion:

Any outrageous interpretation of a bureaucratic rule, if widely resisted by the public, will lead to an increased appropriation for the bureaucracy within two fiscal years.

There is an exception.

The new scanners are expensive. Some firm is making a bundle of money by supplying them to the TSA. It is clear – transparent, even – that this technology is coming to an airport near you.

It is fun to imagine that the TSA screeners get their jollies by subjecting people to the process. This is unlikely. Most employees in a bureaucracy want to decrease the number of tasks they are required to perform. Like all of us, the want more for less. Adding a step is not in their self-interest.

On the other hand, it is in the self-interest of their supervisor. Now we come to another law of bureaucracy, an extension of Parkinson's famous law: "Work expands so as to fill the time allotted for its completion." Professor Parkinson had another law, less known but more rigorous: promotions take place when a bureaucrat increases the number of employees subordinate to him. Parkinson worked out the numbers in the 1950s. It was no joke. There is a large body of academic articles devoted to this rule. Here is a recent example.


The supervisors want these scanners. They want employees with their sanitary gloves. These people must be trained to do these jobs. They must be moved out of the line. This means the supervisor will be able to call for additional staff. His budget will rise.

The official goal of the scanners is to discover ever-more concealable explosives.

I rue the day when a terrorist on a plane blows it up by inserting a powerful explosive into a large orifice.

Talk about bin Laden winning the war! If the see-through scanners are there to detect explosive underwear, think of the ---- bomb's impact on airport security procedures.

"No," you think to yourself. "It could not go that far." You are ignoring Law #1:
Some bureaucrat will enforce a written rule in such a way as to make the rule and the bureaucracy seem either ridiculous, tyrannical, or both.

I assume that there are terrorists out there who think up low-tech weapons, not for terrorizing the populace, but rather for the annoyance factor. It give TSA an opportunity to tighten the screws.

Osama: "Hey, guys. I've got one. What about some PETN in a condom?"

Massam: "Where should Allah's Devoted One hide it?"

Osama: "Where the sun don't shine."

Ayman: "Now that's really good. Can you imagine what the TSA will do with that one?"

Abu: "Assume the position!"

Saif: "Toward the East!"

Osama: "It's time to invest in latex gloves."