The State and I

I hate the State bureaucracy. There's something about encountering it that can leave me paralysed. In the US it's still just about possible to try and escape it and go live in a shack in the woods... but only just. Here in the UK it's been impossible most of my life. I can remember a guy who lived in a chicken shed when I was a kid, but that's about it...

Anyway, I ended up working for the State by accident. I sort of bumbled my way into it. I thought I was going to work at some kind of charity. I was, but it was one of those Fake Charities that are set up to do the State's work while allowing the State to fiddle its own tax returns.

I was surprised to find out that:
a) we had no constituency that supported our work through voluntary donations or support;
b) people I worked with aspired to to be "proper" civil servants. Weird.

But I hung in there. Well, first of all I needed the money, and second some of my work was interesting. And third I could kid myself that I was being of some wider benefit.

It didn't last. Couldn't last really. I found it increasingly hard to convince myself I was doing more good than harm. But why did I stay?

There came a point when I realised that the Organisation had no future and that the redundancy package on offer was a good 'un. Trouble was, this was before the 2005 General Election. So when the same ol' government got back in, I knew I was in for 4-5 years more. But. You bite the bullet and get your head down. And invent Policy Police.