This was going to be a piece having a little rant at the local council. Let’s be honest it probably will anyway but I’ve lost some of the conviction having thought a little more about it. It is probably worth mentioning that I dislike councils immensely. They seem to be just small time self-serving bureaucrats. There is nothing worse than a local councillor attempting to justify why they gave their mate a deal or attempting to elevate their own importance despite not being able to look beyond their own narrow little view of the world. I was looking at the road outside my parents today and it is dangerous to drive down, the potholes are everywhere, it could be described as off-roading and that would not be an exaggeration. My parents pay one thousand eight hundred pound per year in council tax, which works out as about thirty-six pound per week. They get their recycling collecting every second week and the rubbish collected every alternate second week. The local farmers cut all the hedges locally and if a tree came down in the road they would have moved it before the council even contemplated having to do anything about it. The local power and phone cables are maintained by the power companies too. The council clearly never fix the roads so that means we’re paying thirty six pounds per week to have a bin emptied. They wonder why nobody believes in the credibility of their existence.
However, nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems and this is why intellectually I start having to question my short sighted emotive rant. They also apparently do certain care in the community things around my area. Now while that is one thing, it also mean there will probably be others I’m unaware of. Also, while there are payment bands and people in town will pay more, it does make you realise that perhaps some of the money raised goes towards funding things in the local town which we do use sometimes.
It is frustrating because you want to rant at their expensive incompetence and when you see yourself getting so little back it is justified but that approach is one that merely highlights an endemic problem within society as a whole. We have been conditioned to think so much from an individualistic perspective, it is about what society can do for me. Why should I pay that much when I am only getting those small few things back. We never look to how we can contribute to society or the community as a whole despite the reality that stronger community around us makes our own lives better, safer, stronger and potentially more fulfilling. I still have no time for the small minded council but it is important to have the time for those around us. Sometimes it is important to pay a little more than we may immediately get back because we never know whether we will get it back in other ways at a later date. It is a shame to realise that because clearly I just wanted to shout and I’m not happy that I’ve rationalised this fairly.
Fuck it…total bunch arseholes!! That feels better. Maybe it’s time to dig out that spray can.
Observations and Misunderstandings 