The dictatorship of the bureaucrats
Written Wednesday 23rd March 2022
The room is crowded, stuffy, sultry
people wait with an air of frustration.
This functionay loves his power
to make people wait,
to make people wait for pieces
of paper necessary to live.
people wait with an air of frustration.
This functionay loves his power
to make people wait,
to make people wait for pieces
of paper necessary to live.
Some need to register births, others deaths,
some sway and smell of drink,
others stink of sweat with holes in their clothes.
A woman is beginning to plead, screech, beg
for milk tokens
she is pregnant - with children to see to.
some sway and smell of drink,
others stink of sweat with holes in their clothes.
A woman is beginning to plead, screech, beg
for milk tokens
she is pregnant - with children to see to.
She goes back to waiting.
The functionary draws the blinds
it is very hot and not yet 10am in Odessa.
One or two people wave Russian bank notes at him:
he sees these first:
one is paying a fine, the other taxes.
The functionary draws the blinds
it is very hot and not yet 10am in Odessa.
One or two people wave Russian bank notes at him:
he sees these first:
one is paying a fine, the other taxes.
It is nice to talk to educated people, with money
even if they are Ukrainian.
Next he sees the pregnant woman again so needy.
she has an uncompleted form requesting assistance in the form of vitamins for her children.
She cannot read or write Russian.
Peasant, he thinks. Ah! his coffee has arrived,
he slurps as he drinks,
as he registers births, marriages, deaths.
Lots of deaths..
He deals with permissions for change of use, alterations, bedrooms, kitchens
the committee will review all these - in time -
we spare no expenses in rebuilding after the bombing.
even if they are Ukrainian.
Next he sees the pregnant woman again so needy.
she has an uncompleted form requesting assistance in the form of vitamins for her children.
She cannot read or write Russian.
Peasant, he thinks. Ah! his coffee has arrived,
he slurps as he drinks,
as he registers births, marriages, deaths.
Lots of deaths..
He deals with permissions for change of use, alterations, bedrooms, kitchens
the committee will review all these - in time -
we spare no expenses in rebuilding after the bombing.
The functionary often looks out of the window
but all he can see is the gallows tree.
but all he can see is the gallows tree.
John Marks
Tue 30th Aug 2022 21:46
Thank you again Keith and Ray and sincere thanks also to Stephen G, Holden. Pete and Stephen A. Yes bureaucrats love nothing more than seeking to bully and intimidate the 'common' people. That is we must resist threats to free expression and attempts at intimidation at all costs.
"The peculiarity of the totalitarian state is that though it controls thought, it does not fix it. It sets up unquestionable dogmas, and it alters them from day to day. It needs the dogmas, because it needs absolute obedience from its subjects, but cannot avoid the changes, which are dictated by the needs of power politics. It declared itself infallible, and at the same time it attacks the very concept of objective truth." George Orwell