More Democracy, But Still Bureaucratic

A small stream separates Germany and the Czech Republic, and the differences in the two border towns of Deutschneudorf and Nova Ves point to the importance of developing the institutions of civil society as part of the democratization of formerly communist lands. After floods washed out a bridge over the stream, the mayor of the German town simply ignored the rules and regulations, found an old Russian pontoon, and placed it over the water to be used as a foot bridge. He then filed plans with Czech and German bureaucracies only to learn that the Czechs objected because he failed to complete a technical study of the bridge; in response, their German counterparts ordered a halt to the project.

That was two years ago, and the bridge is still in use. His Czech counterpart, Mayor Jana Dvorakova, a member of the Communist Party, said that she would never have moved without official approval, but that she's happy the bridge is there. That is, left up to her own initiative, there would be no bridge today.

What's more, the German mayor, Heinz-Peter Haustein, nailed the situation in the European Union, which the Czechs join this Saturday:

"'The bureaucracy in Europe is terrible,' Mr. Haustein said. 'The E.U. has rules on how bananas should be grown, and what shape they should be. Bill Gates could never have started a business in his garage here, because the relevant authorities would have shut him down.'"

Indeed. The freedom to think creatively, even to construct something as simple and necessary as a foot bridge, is killed off, punished, or at least denied any reward in the bureaucratic state. Mayor Haustein is right: Bill Gates's German alter ego, Wilheim Torhaus, wouldn't have revolutionized software and, by extension, the world. At least Mayor Haustein knows that something is wrong and is willing to act first and seek permission later in such mundane matters. Someone should let him know that, if he comes to America, his attitude might translate into money.