A parcel was sent from Poland. Inside: clothes for grandchildren, lovingly selected by a grandmother. Value: £40. Cost to send: £16. Customs charge to receive: £15.96.
Welcome to the bureaucratic absurdity of modern “logistics.”
Once upon a time, parcels were about connection. A thread between generations, cultures, hearts. Today, that thread is entangled in a web of tariffs, levies, and opaque rules designed to turn gifts into taxable transactions.
The system doesn’t ask: “Is this love in a box?” It asks: “Is this revenue on the table?”
When postage plus customs nears or exceeds the value of the item itself, we must confront a deeper truth: the systems meant to serve us have turned parasitic. The parasite feeds on friction, fees, and false justifications.
This isn’t about a single package. It’s about a pattern.
The “great taking” isn’t always dramatic. Sometimes, it comes as a polite card from the Royal Mail demanding money for what is already yours.
This is not the free movement of goods. It’s the monetization of meaning.
And it reveals a broader spiritual sickness: we’ve allowed administrative empires to replace human empathy. A grandmother’s gift becomes a taxable event. Bureaucracy conquers the bonds of family.
The awakening begins when we name the absurdity and say: Enough.
Reflect on this: what else in your life has been silently monetized without your consent?
