Using comics to talk about corruption

One of my colleagues wondered if the Policy Police would face something like the recent news story where construction firms colluded to maintain the high value of their tenders.

This reminded me of the anime "Salaryman Kintraro". In some of the later episodes our hero ends up crossing a cartel that is doing this very kind of thing. So it's already out there in the comic world. I like Kintaro, he shows up my own moral cowardice in the face of the bureaucracy. There's something of him in the Kid. She knows what crooks look like, whereas Faren is far more accepting of this world, it is the "nature" that he finds himself in.

Anyway, this made me think that the state bureaucracy creates the conditions in which this kind of activity can thrive. The state sets out to save money by bureaucratising purchasing and forcing government departments to only buy from approved suppliers in a "framework".

This means that those on the inside are cushioned against competition, and there's plenty of work to be divvied up by those in the "club". So, as long as they can keep prices high, life is very sweet for these guys.

Firms can also be in different frameworks where they can offer different prices. So they try to steer you towards the more expensive one. Same work, same people, different price.

Hmmm. Maybe I'll fit something like this in somewhere.

Up Close And Personalised Episode 1

Looks like my ability to embed has come back. Don't know whether my emails into the darkness worked, or if it just magically fixed itself. But anyway, heres the beginning of the new saga:


That paragraph refers at least to the hosting before last. So in order to make life easier next time things disappear, you can find the comic in THE STORIES tab, under the heading, Up Close and Personalised.