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Just observations, questions and no conclusions.

Maybe a little suspicion, but nothing more. 

Is there any irony in the fact that the inspectors who carry out checks on inflated speculation are some of its biggest victims?

Yes, there is a big one too.

Inspectors from the Consumer Protection Commission receive small salaries, and the speculation they themselves pursue hits their pockets hard.

Stronger than not a few of the pockets for which the commission should be working. 

Is it known all over the world that a civil servant with a low salary is an open door to corruption?

It is known. Since time onò. 

Do we know corruption in Bulgaria?

I think we know her well. 

Does corruption at the highest levels in a country breed corruption at the lowest levels?

Yes.

This is how - the money from the budget (including money from the EU on programs) that is intended for salaries and for equipment (which makes the work easier) is diverted into the pockets of appointed persons who benefit themselves personally and allocate a percentage to fill party coffers, pay a "fee" to the person who helped appoint them, etc. 

Thus, the money is distributed everywhere else, but not where it is intended.

Which leads to a lack of funds for salaries, management shrugs and says nothing can be done.

Further disheartening is the fact that employees see the new personal cars, expensive clothes, demonstration of capabilities of certain bosses and understand that they are being cheated. 

From here on, the step to receiving/requesting a bribe is even smaller. 

A small parenthesis here:

in many countries, mostly dictatorships, a lean structure has been set up to distribute corruption - keep wages low, people fail, start accepting and offering bribes on various occasions.

Thus, the budget is not burdened (because corruption is at the highest level and the party leaders steal from the budget), besides, every single resident is by default screwed - because he is a participant in an illegal activity - corruption;

both as offeror and receiver.

Example: the doctor takes a bribe to do his job (for which he is paid little), then goes to the municipality, where he himself has to pay the bribe. 

The Perpetual Asshole is easy to manipulate

and can certainly be easily dissuaded from protesting or allying with others - with just a simple threat of an investigation they can dissuade him from anything. 

He is eternally grumpy and eternally mistrustful - it is difficult for him to form alliances with others.

Detached are easy to manipulate and manage. 

I close the bracket. 

The small official, if he takes a bribe (I said "if"), it is not excluded that he may think that his action does not lead to particular (or any) harm.

Victimless crime, nothing to do. 

Is that so?

Especially if the little employee is the one hundred and fifty first to deliberately break his duties?

Accumulation of corruption is one problem, getting used to it is another;

it becomes like a virus that is more and more easily perceived.

And so distribution becomes easier. 

I'll give you an almost harmless example. 

Do you remember how some time ago there were studies that certain companies offer one quality in Western European markets and another (worse) in Eastern?

Nothing has changed. 

There is a brand of tea, I won't say which one exactly, I'll just say it sounds like Ahmak and rhymes with sweet potato, which is (generally) great, but in other parts of the world.

It was also here in the beginning.

Things changed and I gave up buying them.

I recently bought one anyway and was surprised by the super quality.

I also noticed differences in the packaging. 

The box ran out and I went to buy another but it wasn't there.

As you read this tea example (which you probably don't care about), realize that this is true of many other goods (which you care about).

The stand was empty and only the price tag stood.

The tea - gone.

Something was waiting perhaps because it hadn't happened before he disappeared. 

All the stores I looked in didn't have it.

Disappeared. 

Then it showed up and I hastily bought a few boxes.

Which was a mistake, because I immediately realized that I had bought again from the Eastern European lot.

I also noticed a telltale difference in the packaging. 

I thought to myself: why did the nice batch appear, then disappear, and now it's here again?

What had happened?

The action had taken place - the massive inspections of stores throughout the country.

At that time I had bought the quality product.

Towards the end of the promotion, the product disappeared (probably the good quality was sold out), and at the end of it, the old one appeared, with the Eastern European quality.

And everything - in the old way.

The whole inspection campaign suddenly smacked of simple PR and demonstration to me. 

For a dual-quality product to exist

(as was established years ago),

Which means that in order to have a second quality sold for the first, the control body has turned a blind eye.

However, the "authority" is not a person to whom personal responsibility is sought, but is a beehive of employees, bosses and contractors - go find out who taught under the table, who was negligent, who is guilty, who is right.

Does the corruption come from the top in this case or because of the corruption in the system has the corruption been triggered on the lower floors?

Who can tell you...

But it is a fact that for the scheme to work with both qualities, the system must be intentionally broken. 

At exactly the same time, information appeared that the KZP employees would go on strike because their salaries were low.

Did I - fresh from the shopping nonsense - react hastily by swearing at the radio?

Yes.

It was just the moment.

Are they all guilty?

Of course not, but what I immediately thought was: they had better do their job before asking for a raise;

at the first moment when they had to work a little more and remembered that their wages were small. 

I'm not proud of my initial reaction, but even today I can't say I was completely wrong then.

The fact is that their wages are low, and that's a problem, as it turns out—a potential problem for us, too;

so it will be nice if we also ask for an increase in their salaries.

And more importantly: will we ever live to receive the same quality of goods that Western Europeans get for their money?

Maybe we don't deserve it?

Since we: 1.) endure and 2.) are the most inventive in schemes and scams, we may not deserve it. 

CCP

corruption

users

inflation

tea

goods

chain stores