Good society

“We cannot do that, do you want them to start asking for compensation”, argued a public servant - by “them” meaning the public who paid their salaries, in general, and the victims of marine accidents, in particular. Behind that line lies a sincere astonishment that the entitlements of ordinary members of the public could seriously be considered.

When it came to expenses, however, – some quite inexcusable – public servants would say, “We’ll charge it to the Vote.”, the “Vote” meaning the same unsuspecting public, destined to be sponged by the State as a matter of course, rather than as an exception. The politicians’ disregard for the voters’ interests may have rubbed off on the public servants who worked so close to government politics

We must emphasise that the authors of the above statements were not elected representatives, but bureaucrats appointed to public positions by virtue of a job contract. It is possible that when making those comments – and let’s not be too affronted by them, as more shocking admissions will soon need to be copied and shared – the unelected bureaucrats in question, just like our elected officials, may have felt that their elevated status and allegiance did not rest with the taxpayer.

The whole extensive mess

Having reviewed materials related to the matters published here, I was reminded once again of the bigger and much more detailed picture than the one sketched on this blog. I felt taken aback at the sight of all the sordid details behind the series of maritime investigations and official dealings of the recent past.

The cynicism permeating some of this evidence is breathtaking. Such details may be too crude for this site, or for me personally to delve into. The significant facts are there, unalterable, and, I hope, able to convey the truth while sparing you the most debasing aspects.

And there is still much to tell. The corruption of the legal process and formality has gone on for a while and on what you may call an industrial scale. A consistent committment to deception and fraud has been the only solid thing in the fluid mess of unethical and unprincipled conduct.

Having suffered too many humiliations, justice is now too frail to be of much use to those finally finding out that they have been deprived of their rights; the various forms of legalistic chicanery that are in operation today serve merely as weapons in the warfare between rival sections of the elite. And, furthermore, there is no political will to reinstate the rule of law when those at the top would be likely to fall on the wrong side of it. The public has to take this task upon itself.