The Bean Counter - a person, usually of the accounting persuasion, who without any knowledge of marketing, sales or the actual product believes they can run the company more efficiently, and thus make more money.
The Bean Counter never takes into account customer satisfaction or customer loyalty. Those are emotional concerns, and no where in the accounting books is there a ledger for these things.
Bean counters of today have done things like move customer support to India, because it will save 30%, but ignoring the backlash that will be coming from dissatisfied customers. Move manufacturing to China, unaware of the loss of quality control. Etc.
So, i was thinking of these peculiar fellows.
(when reading @lucylin 's articles about mid-wits)
Whom, never in a million years, could start a successful business on their own,
but to a man (or woman) think they can run the business more efficiently.
These people are exactly what makes communism communism.
The reason why communism seems so good on paper, and so bad in actuality.
The bean counters believe that if only they were in charge of the country, they could run it more efficiently and thus everyone will be happier.
And, like the above examples, they ignore everything that actually makes a country happy. No, they trample everything that makes a country happy, in the name of making everything more efficient. And ultimately they fail at the efficiency part too, as they are only efficient with numbers on a paper, removed at least twice from the actual stuff that is life.
And even when faced with incontrovertible facts, they will stand behind their numbers. Because to them, numbers are incontrovertible. However, numbers are only a proxy of an analogy of actuality. So, when the bean counter gets in charge, everything goes to shit.
The bean counters make the working conditions miserable.
Sending security to your desk if you are not answering the phone within two rings. Enforcing strict guidelines to interpersonel talks at the water cooler. Not allowing for that bit of fudge that allows one to ignore the bolt that rolled under the bench. The bean counter removes all the wiggle room. This denies people even there own peculiarities that makes humans human. No, you are to be a cog, just like every other cog.
They make fake awards, that they highly publicize. These are given to the bright and shining ones that are above the levels of the common line worker. And even if one of the common line workers gets the award, the award is shallow, hollow, or even worse, set in such a way as to earn them the ire of all other line workers.
In a country, they basically create the "actor" class. The media face of propaganda. With the bean counter's awards, they lift the selected person out of the poverty and show them as the new shining one. Never once realizing that this doesn't motivate people. (except to play the lottery) Never once realizing that they are building up hate and resentment, these bean counters, continue with their award programs designed to stimulate the economy.
This is what it is like, at every level, working under bean counters. They suck the very life out of a business / country in the name of "happiness", "equality", "moving forward". But a bean counter / mid-wit / communist can never give these things that they espouse, all they can do is take, take your very soul. When bean counters (aka communists) get ahold of your country, there is only one outcome, the life blood of the economy is drained and the corpse is cut up and sold to the highest bidder.