Drawn by Opnor and originally published in the French political magazine La Baïonnette, this 1916 cartoon skewers the machinery of authoritarian bureaucracy. The figure at its center is not solving problems or producing results—he is generating paperwork, defending procedure, and mistaking process for authority.
The satire cuts deeper than its moment. Authoritarian systems do not require effectiveness to function. They require documentation, repetition, and compliance. When power turns inward to protect itself, paperwork becomes not a byproduct, but the weapon.
Drawn by Opnor and originally published in the French political magazine La Baïonnette, this 1916 cartoon skewers the machinery of authoritarian bureaucracy. The figure at its center is not solving problems or producing results—he is generating paperwork, defending procedure, and mistaking process for authority.
The satire cuts deeper than its moment. Authoritarian systems do not require effectiveness to function. They require documentation, repetition, and compliance. When power turns inward to protect itself, paperwork becomes not a byproduct, but the weapon.
