Guest Blog 11

Zersetzung

Political differences inspire passion, but the mendacity and self-interest of this government leaves one feeling that the most extreme sense of outrage is merely proportionate to their craven disregard of the democratic process in pursuit of the ends of their privateering paymasters. An analogy that comes to mind is not any democracy but a dictatorship or an obviously corrupt authoritarian regime supported by repressive, often covert means, such as in Stasi Germany. Zersetzung was the name for the modus operandi of the secret police or Stasi as it repressed opposition through psychological means as well as brutality and spying.

Until this dismantling of our profession, I never really appreciated how governments will maintain power through the black arts of psychological manipulation and the use of surveillance to suppress people. Probation Officers have been forced into contorted mind-sets, and into silence, working against their better knowledge and instincts, and the gagging, so reminiscent of the Eastern bloc, is merely one obvious sign of this. As a consequence, I have heard first-hand accounts of division, resentment and mistrust amongst those who have been colleagues for years, reminding us of Stasi methods that would successfully turn members of a family against each other. 

So, on this blog, most people still working are rightly fearful of losing their employment and post anonymously, and people have been warned to be careful on social media. Yet the Stasi could never draw on the kind of surveillance culture which now operates through the internet, spying and blacklisting on people who protest. Living in Cheltenham, I am always conscious of an arm of the state potentially watching our every move. Recently, for instance, I asked a friend of mine to sign my forms for social work registration and her partner, half jokingly, advised her not to as she may be adversely affected by our association, so maybe he knows something I don’t!

Somehow, though, like the moral vision of an individualistic, selfish society, we have become naturalized to this suppression of the democratic right to protest so we scarcely notice it any more. We now bear a resemblance to the oppressed in such despotic regimes, unable to do what we feel is right, self-editing our responses in compliance with the thinking of those in power, and stopped from whistle blowing by the threat of losing employment. The media too play into their hands. While we are well aware of the dominance of the right wing press, those who have tried to tell our story have been pulled up short by the gagging of anyone who knows what is going on. While I have racked my brains to find out how we could get around this, by disguising voices and faces, the real story should have been the gagging itself, how we became the victims of a corrupt censorship and found ourselves unable to speak out.

However, in the midst of all the sinking mire of corruption, gagging and lies, Napo has surpassed expectations and stood up for us. Whatever the result of the Judicial Review, I congratulate both Napo and the members who have shown bravery in coming forward with their evidence. It shows how dearly we need to reinvigorate our unions, widen union membership and give voice to those who are silenced, so that we can have in the future governments who can serve our children.

Joanna Hughes