|
Written by Dr Eamonn Butler
|
|
Monday, 29 October 2007 |
"Verbal and physical abuse of staff will not be tolerated," shouted the
sign in the Post Office – which then went on to list the dire penalties
that would be imposed on transgressors. I'm glad the Post Office does
not allow its employees to be assaulted with impunity. But the sign
makes me glum for three reasons.
First, it indicates that liberal ideas haven't penetrated very far. In
a liberal society, people should just know that they've no right to
inflict violence on others – just as others have no right to inflict
violence on them. But then we have a state that allows majorities to
bully minorities and actually celebrates the fact by calling it
'democracy'. It denies bars the right to let customers smoke, it
outlaws drugs that do no harm to anyone but the user, it demands we
separate out our rubbish even though we know recycling is a waste of
our time – and if you don't comply, you’re judicially kidnapped and
held in jail. No wonder people in such a state think that violence is
not just tolerable, but perfectly normal.
Second, I'm glum that officialdom thinks we must be constantly reminded
of what is legal and acceptable. The Church of England was rightly
outraged by the regulation that it had to disfigure the walls of its
ancient buildings with no smoking signs. People know that they’re not
supposed to smoke in church, nor to pocket the contents of the
collection plate, nor to shout loudly into their mobile phones during
prayers. They don't need a sign to tell them so. But of course our
bullying officials need a sign – so that they can smile smugly, as they
pass St.Mary's, that their latest assault on the minority is actually
hitting its target.
Third, I'm glum because I know why people are driven to violence in
post offices and other public-service buildings. Because these
organizations are state monopolies, to whom customers are a necessary
inconvenience. Customer service is unnecessary because people have
nowhere else to go: and when customers get frustrated, they quite
naturally get a bit intemperate. The sign tells them that this is their
fault, not the fault of the monopolist. Another smug smile as the
shutter comes down and the argument is terminated. Properly competitive
public services would be so keen to stay on the right side of their
clients that there would be fewer fizzing customers in the first place.
Then, perhaps, these dispiriting signs could be binned.
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed