"The worst of it is, the craziest and most zealous members of such a bureaucracy tend to find their way into positions of authority, because they are the most dedicated (albeit delusional) staff members, and have no life outside of their careers as "crusaders."

Dead right! And that's how psychopaths and extremely disturbed individuals end up being the dictators or "leaders" of nations too. Their single-minded focus takes them all the way to the top, knocking off the healthier and more balanced people around them on the way.

This therapist that I spoke of above is a tremendously zealous and motivated person, utterly determined in her one-woman crusade to expose the supposed fact (as she sees it) that virtually everyone in society was sexually abused in childhood and most of them have suppressed their memories of the abuse. When you're that sure of something, no matter how odd it is, you become so focused on your objectives that you become far more effective than the average person in attaining them.

And if you don't attain them, well, you can still have the grim satisfaction that you were "right all along"...."if only they had listened to me!"