Corruptions in Our Midst

Seeds of Change

Asked by a journalist, Are you honest and incorruptible Sir? A high ranking official in the government answered : I am not corrupt but if someone offers me 100 million dollars for a favor I can dispense within my power, then I will accept it.

This reminds me of a story of George Bernard Shaw who at one function met a very attractive lady. After each one downing a glass of wine, their conversation turned very personal and intimate.

GBS: If I give you 1 million dollars, will you go to bed with me.

The Lady: (hearing a million dollars, smiling) Why not?

GBS; How about 100,000 dollars?

The Lady hearing a big decline scratched her head and without saying a word just nodded a little.

GBS: How about a thousand dollars?

Lady (showing anger and exasperations) : What do you think of me, prostitute?

GBS: Lady, that had already been established. I am just negotiating for the better price.

The two above cases, only show Everyone has a price. And price is subjective, it being a function of one’s needs, wants and circumstances. From the very words of Alan Greenspan: “Corruption, embezzlenent, fraud, these are all characteristics which exist everywhere. It is regrettably the way Human Nature functions, whether we like it or not. What successful economies do is keep it to a minimum. No one has ever eliminated any part of that stuff”.

Taken from a micro perspective, say, a case of a policeman earning 700 pesos a day, a 200-300 pesos bribe for a traffic rules infringement is substantial enough to buy his family’s needs, more so if he has 2 or 3 families. Or a BIR examiner, a CPA or a Lawyer at that, earning 25,000-50,000 pesos per month. Facing a dilemma whether to accept a share in the tens of millions in savings from a tax assessment compromise, what do you think he will do? (Your guess is as good as mine).

In this age of commercialism, “me too”, or “why can’t I when my Neighbor or Friend does it or has it”, agrravates the situation. When my friend bought Hermes bag costing hundreds of thousands pesos or a Lambhorgini car in the tens of million pesos, why can’t I not have them too when i have the opportunity to make easy money from corruption. Moreso, if the chance of getting caught is small.

The situation may not be that serious if these people only do it once in their lives. But most often than not, greed comes into play. They do it every time opportunities come along. Or worse, they create the opportunities by and for themselves. As Socrates once said: “He who is not contented with what he has , would not be contented with what he would like to have”.

I totally agree with Alan Greenspan. We cannot really eliminate corruptions in any country. All we have to do is minimize it. SELON MOI, values education may help but Technology can probably help more. And close to home, we Rotarians must ask ourselves, which one will make us happy, money or peace of mind?