The article discusses James Scott's insights on government mismanagement, exemplified by 18th-century Prussian forests. Officials prioritized the harvestable wood count, reconfiguring forests to maximize this metric. This led to disastrous outcomes over generations, as crucial ecological factors, such as soil health and biodiversity, were neglected. Scott highlights the danger of bureaucracy's focus on legibility and standardization, which may overlook local and vital ecological knowledge necessary for sustaining complex environmental systems.
"A new term, Waldsterben (forest death), entered the German vocabulary to describe the worst cases."
"Bureaucracies use measurements to optimize and rearrange the world around them."
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