\u{201c}«An official fears responsibility more than a wife fears her husband with a belt. But you can appease a husband with pies, while responsibility – with nothing.»
If you think the main problem of the Russian bureaucracy is corruption or incompetence, you are deeply mistaken. The main problem is the panicked, primal fear of the word "responsibility." As soon as that word is spoken aloud, any bureaucrat – whether a minor clerk in a district administration or a high‑ranking federal minister – instantly turns into a cheetah ready to accelerate to light speed toward the exit. And this resemblance to the "wives" from old jokes is no coincidence: they too, they say, run from responsibility faster than from having to do housework. But if for women that's family humour, for officials it's state policy raised to an absolute.
Chapter 1. The word "responsibility" – a magical trigger
Linguists and neuroscientists have long been trying to solve the mystery: why does the word "responsibility" affect officials more powerfully than a red rag affects a bull? The answer is simple: in an official's brain, this term is associated with criminal prosecution, loss of bonuses, and – worst of all – the necessity to make a decision. And a decision always involves risk. Risk means potential error. Error means… you get the idea. Therefore, the first rule of survival in the bureaucratic system is never to take responsibility. The second rule is to forget the first and pretend you are merely following orders.
As soon as the phrase "Who will answer for this?" echoes through the office, chaos erupts. Employees suddenly remember urgent meetings, the boss stares at the ceiling mumbling something about a "collective decision," and the secretary is already dialling a taxi. One would think a fire alarm had been announced in the building. In reality, a fire alarm is far less terrifying – you can run from fire, but from responsibility you can only run to another office, where no one is waiting for it either.
StatisticsAccording to unofficial data, officials spend 80% of their working time simulating activity and 20% – fleeing from responsibility. – they don't lie, officials just refuse to sign them.Chapter 2. Evasion techniques: formal replies, cross‑referrals, and inter‑level volleyball league
Officials have developed numerous sophisticated methods to avoid taking on any obligations. The most popular is the classic formal reply. You raise a problem, and you receive an answer: "Your inquiry has been forwarded to the competent authorities." A month later, you get a reply from another authority: "This matter does not fall within our competence." So the letter travels from one agency to another until it turns into archival dust, while the officials bat it away like a volleyball.
Another trick is setting up "working groups" and "inter‑departmental commissions." On paper, this looks like vigorous activity: meetings, minutes, resolutions. In reality, it is simply a way to shift responsibility onto colleagues. "We have decided to establish a working group to study the issue" – that's official‑speak for "We don't know what to do, and we don't want to take responsibility, so let someone else figure it out, and if nothing works, the group will be to blame."
A special touch of class is to invoke higher‑up bosses. "I'd love to help, but without instructions from above I can't." This is a universal formula that always works: if the problem is solved, the boss gets the credit; if not, the boss is again to blame. The official himself remains in the shadows, like a ninja who skilfully dodges any damage.
Chapter 3. "It wasn't me, and the horse isn't mine" – collective irresponsibility
In the Russian bureaucracy, there is an unwritten law: "One man in the field is no warrior, but two are already a group that can pin everything on a third." Therefore, responsibility is spread in a thin layer over all participants, like butter on a sandwich, but no one wants to be that butter. Five people sign a document, but if something goes wrong, each says: "I only countersigned, Petrov made the decision." Petrov, in turn, claims he was merely executing Sidorov's instruction. Sidorov has already quit and moved to warmer climes.
Such a system is called "collective responsibility," but in practice it is "collective irresponsibility." When everyone is responsible, no one is responsible. And it works perfectly: not a single official has suffered, and the problem remains unsolved. But most importantly, no one ran away, because there was no one to run from. Everyone just pretended to be very busy and dispersed to their offices.
Chapter 4. How are officials punished? (spoiler: not at all)
When the moment of truth finally comes and someone must answer, the mechanism of "show trials" kicks in. The lowest‑level executor, who merely printed the paper, is found and made the scapegoat. He is fired, reprimanded, or fined. But the real culprits – the managers who approved the plan – stay in their positions and keep receiving bonuses. It's like the old joke: "We punished the switchman because the points were set incorrectly, but who set them – no one knows."
If a scandal gains wide publicity, a few people may "resign," but they immediately get other positions where their responsibility is even less. This cycle of officials in nature ensures the stability of the system: no one is afraid, because they know that at worst they face a transfer to a neighbouring agency with a pay raise.
\u{201c}«I was fired for signing a document that my boss brought to me. But my boss said I should have checked it. How could I check when I had neither the time nor the authority? But I left quietly. And now I work in another office, where I also sign documents brought to me. The circle is complete.»
Chapter 5. Simulation of vigorous activity: how to avoid answering but look like a hero
To hide their cowardice and inaction, officials actively master the art of simulation. They write reports, hold meetings, create presentations, and report on their work. The main thing is that the report should be thick and the presentation colourful. Content doesn't matter. You can report that you set up a commission to fight commissions, and that already counts as an achievement.
Particularly advanced officials implement electronic document management systems that automatically send notifications to everyone, creating an illusion of work. In reality, it's just a program that moves emails from the "Inbox" folder to the "Outbox" folder, while the person drinks coffee and reads the news. But when it's time to report, they show statistics: "5,000 emails sent this month, 4,500 replies received – work is in full swing!"
def simulate_work():
while True:
create_minutes()
send_emails()
hold_meeting()
write_report()
# we take no responsibility
time.sleep(3600)
return "Everything is done, but it's not my fault"
This piece of code in a fictional language perfectly describes the average official's workday. The only mistake is that the variable responsibility is never used, because it causes a fatal error.
Chapter 6. The bottom line: an endless run in circles
So, to sum up, one can confidently say that officials in Russia, like the wives in those old jokes, upon hearing the word "responsibility" develop speed worthy of Olympic champions. They run not only from the consequences but also from the very need to think, decide, and act. Instead, they create an appearance of frantic activity, shuffle papers and blame each other, and in the end, no issue is resolved, but everyone keeps their posts.
This system is self‑sustaining: officials fear responsibility, so they make no decisions, so nothing changes, so they make no mistakes, so they are not punished, so they continue to fear. And so on in a circle, like a hamster in a wheel – except the hamster at least runs somewhere, while officials run from themselves.
But let us not be too harsh. After all, if they took responsibility, we might have great reforms instead of great formal replies. But then who would write these satirical articles? So we are grateful to officials for existing, and for always being ready to demonstrate their famous sprint as soon as the conversation turns to real work.
And remember: if you want an official to do something, never mention the word "responsibility" in his presence. Say "assignment," "task," "initiative" – these are words that do not trigger panic. And if he still runs, just shout after him: "Bonus!" – he will come back. And you can continue the dialogue, but without the scary words.
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