The trouble with times of economic stress is that the government tends to demand for less and expects those who work under the regime to come up with the goods.
In these straightened times it is easy for the government to produce more, there is no limit on the amount of hot air they can expend. As a generalisation Politicians love the sound of their own voice and love to be seen making tough statements.
The reality, for my colleagues and I is that we are paid less, there are less of us, we are expected to do more, quicker, while battling with a new computer system which is over complex.
Now, I watch Inspector Frost, New Tricks, Waking the Dead etc. There never seems to be a shortage of people to run off at a moments notice to combat crime. Usually led by a superintendent or some other high faluting person.
The cold hard reality, the struggle to find enough people to visit victims, the lack of bodies to attend crime scene’s, failure to meet targets for attending the most urgent jobs in the time set for response. Cars hardly worth the name. Lack of proactive patrolling (intended to improve response times), constant nagging from the big chunks who merely attend meetings about our lack of use of the new computer systems. The list is endless.
At the same time, I have been told I am not entitled to express an opinion, my workplace will not let me look at WordPress during my lunch as it is, presumably, too subversive.
One of the attractions of this job for mew was the ability to help decent ordinary human beings in times of trouble. This ability has been whittled down almost to the point of non existence. My relatives, like many others, fought in wars to prevent, allegedly, extremists taking control. To prevent people like the Gestapo, the Stasi, the KGB and so forth controlling the thoughts of those who live within their sphere of influence. How successful were they?
It would appear that George Orwell was a few years out, but we appear to be heading toward an era of Thought Police (should I transfer?) and the Ministry of Love. As an aside, I placed a sign above my desk which identified my office as the Ministry of Love. I was told to remove it. Presumably it was too close to the mark for those above me.
fromthepigpen 