Elizabeth Neuffer Quotes
It is a huge bureaucracy. It is so inept. But it does function.
Elizabeth Neuffer, Author and Journalist, Description of the United Nations, C-SPAN, Book TV, February 15, 2003
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This was said before Bolton was nominated for the United Nations Representative. Many senators voted against his confirmation on the grounds that he was not very diplomatic.
He confuses modernity and religion. Muslims who live in a modern world have the same degree of bureaucracy then the Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and other religions do. The Muslims of America have the same degree of paperwork as other Americans, and the Turkish bureaucracy has as much filing and other paperwork as countries where the majority of people are of different religions. Historically, when England and France and other Christian countries were in the Dark Ages, Islamic bureaucrats kept Western and Eastern knowledge alive, and when the Ottoman Empire ruled most of the known world, they almost collapsed under their very heavy bureaucracy.
The administration and operation of scientific research is particularly vulnerable to bureaucratic processes. There is a constant tension between scientists and politicians over the accountability of publicly funded research.
Political conservatives have generally been very verbal in their attacks upon and criticisms of bureaucracy. And yet, bureaucrats are the epitome of conservatism in their outlook and mode of operation as is made clear by this quotation.
Elizabeth Neuffer was an American journalist who specialized in covering war crimes, human rights abuses, and post-conflict societies. She died at the age of 46 in a car accident while covering the Iraq War.
