Good Photo of My Mate Cam in March 08

Sveet's 15th Birthday

Make Work Schemes

Today I have had an experience that re-enforces my belief that our systems of government are bloated and wasteful.

Recently we got a complaint about our dogs barking during the day - presumably when we are at work because they are fine when we are around. The plaintiff is obviously a completely gutless wanker because she left an anonymous note in our mailbox then called the council rather than come and speak with us like an adult. Here’s where the make-work scheme comes into its own.

Firstly we get a letter that we need to register our dogs after they recieved an official complaint. This is of course designed to make more paperwork and fees designed to keep a bunch of twats employed at the council managing a list of pooches so that on the rare occasion a dog bites someone they can identify its owner without having to get off their arses and do some investigation work. The letter states that we need to register our dogs within 14 days.

Seven (7) days have elapsed since the letter.

The council guy rings me up today as he is sitting outside my house and says he has lobbed around to tell me to register my dogs. My first question was why bother sending the letter if you are going to come around in 7 days? Just routine Sir! More like just routine to make sure that they can write on their reports that they did X number of house visits for non-registered dogs in 2008 and therefore justify their useless existence.

But no! There’s more.

He happens to notice that Jesse’s car is out the front of the house neatly parked on the kerb broken down but otherwise looking tidy. Unfortunately it is unregistered. This is illegal, of course, to have an unregistered car on the side of the road and he can issue me a fine. The fact it is on eBay and about to sell is irrelevant.

My point in all this is that when you have so many laws and those laws are “policed” so aggressively there is a self-fulfilling situation going on.

More Police = more crime is found

More social workers = more problem children/families

More Homeland Security = more things are classified as impacting security

People working these jobs FIND work otherwise their budgets will get cut. If you put more police on the road you will get more fine revenue but you won’t get anyone to respond when your car is stolen.

Its cause and effect around the wrong way in my opinion and I’m sick of it.