the great western education and entertainment company was not officially a department of control, but a “subcontractor” of it.
it was hired to keep a database of persons who would be classified as “group c” in a situation control determined to be “priority 3”. 3 out of 6, with 6 being the most urgent priority and 1 the least urgent.
all citizens were required to be classified by priority. the first classification was made at birth by an official department of control.
the second classification was made at age twelve, also by control.
a third and final classification by control was made at age thirty-three.
all citizens were encouraged, though not required, to constantly seek “counseling” by “contracted” agencies like the great western education and entertainment company, which passed their information on to control, who might then use the information to readjust the clsssifications.
most citizens were happy, if not eager, to do this, as they enjoyed talking about.themselves.
the minority who never sought “counseling” were randomly checked up on by a police department created and staffed for that purpose.
the whole purpose of the priority classification system was to determine the “necessity” of each group’s survival in the event of both forseen and unforseen emergencies.
it was accepted that a tiny handful of people, like william wilson, might fall through the cracks. they were considered to be in group 1, the least “necessary”
nobody expected that any such “emergencies” would ever arise.
disasters and emergencies were often portrayed in movies and books , but in these the classification system was never mentioned. a hero or heroine always saved the day.
the whole system , if it was thought about at all, was seen s a bureaucracy providing employment for people who wished to be employed.
it amounted to the third largest bureaucracy under the control of control.
“health and drugs”. was the second largest.
the police were the largest.
