Every man and woman in Britain is supposed in theory to contribute a portion of his or her income to the nation’s health insurance and unemployment fund, and Britain’s imperturbable bureaucracy is intent on allowing the fewest possible exceptions to the rule. Some months ago the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance sent one Harry (“Stopper”) Corke its blanks to fill out, got them back with a note from Corke scribbled on the back: “I do not need these cards. I haven’t worked for 14 months. I get my living by thieving.” As credentials, he could and did cite 23 convictions, two turns in Dartmoor Prison, and the invention of the “jump-up”—an athletic hijacking technique accomplished by jumping from the hood of a moving car over the tail gate of a truck just ahead.
Last week, despite this frank confession, Stopper Corke was haled into court, fined £2 and summarily ordered to get up £16.0.5 in back insurance payments. “It’s sheer hypocrisy!” snorted the Stopper. “The law says thieving isn’t a job and is illegal. Then when it wants its cut, it says it is a job and legal enough to pay insurance on. The law’s dead crooked.”
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