Random bureaucracy notes

In this collapsing economy where jobs are as scarce as pearls and sane politicians, more young graduates are duplicating the story of my life by following the path of least resistance and entering government service. While the regular economy evaporates, the State gorges on the remainder as the public sector presents an upraised middle finger to thrift and expands in the face of folly.

It has now apparently become conveniently 'trendy' amongst the newly-degreed set to gravitate to public jobs because of a renewed ethos of "public service."

Don't make me laugh. In Louisiana, where nearly one out of five workers is employed by the high-tax, do-nothing Bureaucracy, such eloquent sentiments are rarely if ever expressed with regards to the public commonweal. No desire to "serve" the public poses motivation here. It has long been accepted as a fact of life that government work in Gangman's Paradise is a massive jobs program which fills the gap presented by our lack of an economy and keeps the unemployment and poverty rates lower than they would actually be. Any other justification is a convenient excuse for seeking security in these dark times. 

Part of me does not blame them. But when you have occupied the bureaucratic hive for a number of years, you officially become incapable of escaping from the fold back into the world of productivity.

So much for our best and brightest.

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Another State-made disaster looms, thanks to the cable and digital programming lobby who obtain their long awaited gravy in a few short hours.

The State imposed deadline which marks the final demise of analog television arrives at 7 AM to-morrow. As if you didn't know, the way Channel 9 here carries on about "The Big Switch" six times an hour. If anything, this landmark will be welcome if only to eliminate the ongoing annoyance of their constant forewarnings of doom.

Of course, despite all this and the efforts of the other terrestrial broadcasters, undoubtedly (this being Louisiana, after all) tens of thousands of comatose trailer court and public housing residents have nary a clue of the upcoming caesura of over-the-air transmissions. So when they turn on their televisions to-morrow, the white snow that will greet them will be a mysterious malevolent force sent to disrupt their precious lives from their constant stream of trash talk shows and "reality" soap operas.

And all at once they will realize what they will need to do to replenish this electronic stream to which they are addicted (for this is more important than work, life, or the Second Coming!), and the greasy mob will doubtless swamp the electronic stores soon after...to be greeted by bare shelves. Not a good mix there. 

I would not want to have to visit Best Buy to-morrow for any reason, much less to purchase a digital antenna along with all the other last minute lemmings. In fact, I'm pretty sure that even their parking lot would be useful to avoid entirely. I would take bets as to how fast the digital converter boxes, etc. will disappear from stock, but regrettably I wasn't trained as a bookie.