The Ph.D. Octopus (essay by William James)

James, William. "The Ph.D. Octopus." William James: Writings 1902-1910. New York: The Library of America, 1987.

Uses the phrase "tyrannical machines" to describe bureaucratic systems, quoted by Lynne V. Cheney, Chairman (sic) of the National Endowment for the Humanities in Tyrannical Machines: A Report on Educational Practices . . . (Washington, DC: NEH, 1990). See for relatively early use of the apparat figure of speech associating bureaucracies and mechanism.

RDE, Title, 28Aug19