The scum of the earth

I am not stupid or naive. I have run a successful business for 34 years and I have travelled the world. I visited the USSR under communism, travelling widely (and illegally) around the country, talking to people. I visited China the year after the Tiannaman Square massacre and stood on the spot where people were mown down. I've also been many times to the rampantly capitalist USA. I've visited Asia and I've visited Africa. I've also been to see my rellies back home in Oz.

So yes, I've been around a bit and with the exception of South America and Antarctica, I've set foot on all of the continents. When I was a kid, my ambition was to go to the moon. I used to have the iconic picture of the crescent earth viewed from the moon on my wall. I'd dream about being an astronaut. When I was I kid I'd sneak out and lie in the garden in the hope that a UFO would abduct me, so I could see more of the Universe. I thought it was a risk worth taking.

Now I am happier living in Mill Hill. I no longer fantasize about being taken away in space ships to the moon. I used to be an avid reader of Sci Fi as a teenager, but I got more interested in history and social justice. I can't remember the last sci fi book I read. I also used to love horror. Sadly it dawned on me that real horror was not caused by demented monsters and psychopaths with mystical powers. Real horror is usually caused by a bloke in a grey suit in an office, who casually cuts a budget with no thought to the misery and pain that will inflict. Behind every truly awful story there is a failed bureacracy and a long list of missed opportunities to mend things. Take the baby P case. This was a horror story so sick that no film company would dream of dramatising it. Why did it happen? Failed bureacracy. Another example is what is going on in certain private care homes. We have seen horrific stories of abuse in Winterbourne. I cannot imagine how anyone could gratuitously inflict pain on a defenceless person with disability, but it happens. I got sent a file about the Winterbourne care home case - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9635581/Corrupted-cruel-debased-six-jailed-for-Winterbourne-care-home-abuse.html - and it made me feel physically sick.

One has to ask the question "What processes are in place to ensure this can never happen again". In Barnet a care home provider was recently taken to court by Barnet Council over the death of a vulnerable person in their charge. Quite extraordinarily, the company was awareded a contract extension despite this. Mrs Angry attended the court case and wrote a piece detailing the case - http://wwwbrokenbarnet.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/the-death-of-yuk-kiu-lee-barnet-council.html - which is shocking.

As I said at the top, in the words of the song by the Anti Nowhere League I've been here, I've been there, I've been every F***ingwhere, so what? The sad truth is that there are horror stories on our doorstep. They aren't perpetrated by aliens, monsters or vampires. They are perpetrated by the scum of the earth. Mark my words, you may not give a s**t about this now. Just remember that we can all grow old, we can all have a stroke, we can all get dementia. The seeds you sow today, you reap tomorrow. If you ignore what is being done in regards to care for the elderly and infirm in Barnet, you are writing the first chapters of a horror story. You do realise that when the final chapter is written, you could well be the victim, don't you?