Theodore Dalrymple issues a global warning
Thank goodness I retired in time from the National Health Service: it has cut down enormously the number of forms I have to fill in.
The latest proto-genocidal form sent out to employees by my erstwhile employers was called ‘a data cleanse’, though it soon became known as ‘an ethnic cleanse’ since it related, inter alia, to the staff’s ethnic group. Each member of staff was asked to choose one of 17 ethnic groups to which they belonged, one of six marital statuses, five sexual orientations and nine religious affiliations.
Oh for the simple, clean lines of apartheid, when there were only blacks, whites and coloureds! This form, designed, according to the covering letter, ‘to monitor our workforce effectively and to ensure we identify, tackle and eliminate discriminatory practices,’ divides people into 4,590 possible categories.
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