How to Contain Corruption

8/7/2019 How to Contain Corruption

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Theory of Forbidden Apple: An Approach to Contain Corruption

By

Prof. M J Xavier 1, Director IIM Ranchi

Abstract

This paper proposes a new theory of forbidden apple that classifies people into six categories based onthe opportunity to make money through unfair means and their propensity to indulge in corrupt

practices. Attempt has been made to profile of each of the six categories of people, namely, animals,humans, angels, devils, pseudo angels and pseudo humans. Different strategies, such as, Severe

punishments, Transparent and fool-proof systems, Fear of exposure, Self-control, Instilling morals and values, Fear of God, to deal with the above six categories of people.

In troductio n

We are living in the age of swindles, stings and scams. A question that haunts every Indian citizen iswhether any redemption from this moral turpitude is possible at all. Different people have differenttakes on this issue.The media thrives on it through so-called sting operations and investigative journalism; it is a different matter that some of the media could also be bought. Pseudo intellectualsderive satisfaction by sharing these investigative reports with their Facebook friends on the Internet; itisalso a fact that most of them do not even read them before passing on to others. Self- appointedguardians of morals preach and pray for the renaissance of Indian ethos and values. The common manisstruggling to make his ends meet in the face of stiff inflation and looking forward to more freebiesfrom the government.In this article, we present the theory of `forbidden apple to analyze and

understand the moral crisis that haunts India.

Theory of Forbidde n Apple

The problem of the forbidden fruit is as old as mankind; Adam and Eve being the first set of victims/beneficiaries. While there were plenty of fruits in the garden of Eden, the world s first couple fellfor the forbidden ones for the simple reason that it was forbidden. It is in the DNA of every humanbeing to long for what is not rightfully his/her own. It remained under check during the agrarian age(read as, feudal system) as it was the essential requirement of the landlords for protecting theirproperties and maintaining the power equation. Though several of the great civilizations of the worldhave passed through a feudal period in the course of their history, India is still suffering from thehangover of the feudal age. What moralists are preaching is nothing but romanticism of the past.

The advent of industrial/information age opened the flood gate of opportunities for the repressedmasses. Though it brought material comforts to the common man, hitherto available only to the

1 The views expressed by the author are his own and it does not any way reflect that of the organization that heworks for.


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nobility, it has also resulted in the erosion of values that were held sacred during the feudal age. Mostpeople believe in `money by any means and are not averse to enjoying the forbidden fruits. The pseudointellectuals are those aspiring to make it big in life but do not have opportunities to taste the`forbidden fruits . These group of people are jealous of those who have made it big in life, either throughhard work or through illegitimate means. These are vocal about the need for a change but will not lift

their fingers to take any corrective action. There is nomagic wand nor a single solution available forkeeping the entire population away from the forbidden apple. We need to understand differentcategories of people and use different strokes for different folks.

Six Categories of People

Broadly people can be classified into six categories based on the forbidden apple theory. Primarily, thereare two broad categories of people; (i) those who get opportunities to enjoy `forbidden fruit and(ii)those with no opportunities (see Figure). Basically, people in power, either in private, public, social orgovernment sectors, belong to the first category. My own estimate is that approximately 20% peopleshould belong to this category. Not everyone who have the opportunity to taste the forbidden apples,avail of the opportunity; some out of fear and a few out of self-determination. I call those who stayaway from the forbidden apple out of fear as `Humans while those who have self-determination tokeep away from forbidden apples as Àngels . In the same way, those who avail of opportunities to tastethe forbidden apple can be classified into two further categories; (i) those who enjoy the benefits,knowing fully well that it is illegal and/or immoral, whom I call `Demons and (ii) those who do notpossess the sensitivity to know what they are doing is illegitimate (may due to their upbringing), whom Icall Ànimals . The remaining 80% who do not get opportunities, again can be of two types; (i) thosewho don t care as to who is eating what but are more concerned with their next meal, whom I call`Pseudo Angels and (ii) those who are outwardly seen as clean but are internally feeling jealous of those

who enjoy forbidden apples, whom I call `Pseudo Humans . We shall now see the behavior of these sixcategories of people in some more depth.

Animals: These are people who do not know the distinction between what is right and wrong. They putselfish interest above that of all others. They would go to any extent to get what they want. These arepeople who must have experienced troubled childhood marked by starvation/deprivation. Or, they musthave grown up in a corrupting environment. For example, parents who take bribes and who believe inshort cuts can have the same corrupting influence on their children. These people go to capitationcolleges and get degrees by paying money. They use short cuts to get jobs or make money in business.They become so insensitive to rules and regulation that they tend to believe that `money can buyanything . These people will have utter disregard for any rules and regulations. They do not experienceany guilt while enjoying the forbidden apples. Most of them also tend to be very religious and performpoojas for their own well being. These people can be reformed through severe deterrents, such as theeye-for-eye kind of laws.

Demons: While the Ànimals are corrupt from childhood, these are people who yield to the temptationin the later part of their life. These people are no different from animals, except that they experience asense of guilt. Some of these people will be very religious too. As a guilt reduction mechanism these


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people tend to share a percentage of their booty with their favorite Gods. No law will be good enoughto control them. These people tend to be highly educated and tend to become masters in scientificcorruption. Systems will need to be fool-proof and transparent to control this category of people.

Six Categories of People

Humans: These are people who have been brought up with strong value systems but may lackconviction. What saves them from committing economic offenses is their fear of getting caught. Thestrong sense of honor that they have comes to their rescue. These people respect social norms. Theyare called `Humans because these people find a good balance between individual aspirations andsocietal norms. However, they might be willing to compromise on small matters. For example, they maybe open to paying speed money in a Government office to get things done. They may accept small giftsfor favors done to others. But they would not go to the extent of committing serious offenses. For thesepeople, the value systems get built in the family during the early part of life itself. We only need toreinforce the values in their workplaces through rewards and punishments.

Angels: These are people who would have had a good upbringing and also would be very accomplishedpersons. They do not have the need to indulge in illegitimate activities to make money. Basically they

feel full inside and do feel compelled to compare themselves with others. These are the proverbialphilosopher Kings. If we can have more leaders of this kind, we can be sure of a better future for ourcountry.

Pseudo Angels:These are people who are mostly in the below the poverty line category. They arestruggling to make their ends meet. They typically tend to worry about their next meal, rather thandiscuss and debate the moral degradation or rise in corruption. They cannot even understand the

Opportunity to

TasteForbiddenApples

Available

Avail theopportunity

Not aware thatit is forbidden

Animals

With fullknowledge

that it isforbidden

Demons

Not avail theopportunity

Out of Fear

Humans

Out of self determination

Angels

Not Available

Jealous of others who

enjoyforbidden ones

PseudoHumans

Doesn't Care

Pseudo Angels


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number of digits in the money swindled in different scams. Currently they are angels as they are notharming the society. However, we cannot predict as to how they will behave if the same people are putin positions of power with opportunities for misuse of the authority vested in them. Hence I call thempseudo Angels.

Pseudo Humans: These are people who do not have much opportunity to taste the forbidden apple butfeel jealous of those who enjoy the same. They do envy their own batch mates, who have amassed alot of wealth through illegal means. They tend to be educated but would not be having jobscommensurate with their qualifications. Basically they are paranoid people. These people are vocalabout issues related to corruption. They get excited when they exchange emails on black moneystashed away in foreign banks or the size of the 2G scam. Beyond that they would not be able to domuch to eradicate the ills of the society.

Strategies to Co n tai n Corruptio n

Table 1, summarizes the profile of different types of people and strategies to deal with each one of them. Animals do not understand anything other than severe and stringent punishment. We need togive more teeth to law to deal with these people. Apart from taking away the money swindled by them,we should award imprisonment and physical punishments.

Table 1 Profile of the Six categories


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As demons are more educated, prevention would work better than punishments. We should make oursystems transparent and fool-proof. Information Technology can play a key role in bringing abouttransparency and accountability at all levels. For example, Unique Identification Number project isexpected to help improve the reach of social initiatives for the poor.

Human category is very much concerned with their public image. What others think of them is morecritical to these people than what they are. Fear of getting caught is a good enough deterrent for thesepeople. They tend to read the media exposure of scams and swindles.

Angels are self-made people and will not stoop down low levels under any circumstances. Our families,educational institutions and work places should provide the right environment for shaping people intoangels.

Pseudo Humans currently stay clean due to lack of opportunities. Whether they will turn out to beangels or demons depends on their morals and values. Our social and religious organizations shouldcontinue to play a key role in keeping these people under check.

Pseudo humans can turn out to be animals or angels depending on how they react when faced withopportunities to make money through immoral and illegal means. Once again religions can play a keyrole in instilling the fear of God and educating the people on right and wrong.

Size of the Six Categories

My own estimate of these categories of people is as follows:Animals: 4%Demons: 8%Humans : 8%

Angels: 2 %Pseudo Humans : 40%Pseudo Angels : 40%The detailed working of these percentages is shown in the Table 2.

Has Opportunity to Taste Forbidden Apples (20%)Does not have the Opportunity

(80%)Avail the opportunity(10%)Not avail the opportunity

(10%)

Not awarethat it is

forbidden

With fullknowledge thatit is forbidden

Out of FearOut of self

determination

Jealous of otherswho enjoy

forbidden onesDoesn t Care

Animals(4%) Demons(6%) Humans(8%) Angels(2%)Pseudo Humans

(40%)Pseudo

Angels(40%)

Table 2Size of the Six categories


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It is only people in positions of power who get the opportunities to misuse their position to swindlemoney from the hapless public or curry favors from businessmen and traders. Though we can countmost government employees in this category, the proportion of private sector employees with suchopportunities are is much smaller. My estimate is that no more than 20% people can be said to haveopportunities for the so-called forbidden apple. Of these 20%, my estimate is that half of them end up

utilizing the opportunity while the remaining half stay away. Of those who avail this opportunity I haveput 4% in the animals category and 6% in the Demons category. 8% of the total people, who do notavail this opportunity have been put under Humans and 2% in the Angels category.

Of the 80% of the people who do not have the opportunity, my assessment is that half of them arepseudo humans and the remaining half are pseudo angels. The pseudo angels are usually found amongthe poorest of the poor. These are very subjective estimates and will need to be validated through anempirical study.

Con clusio n

The basic desire for forbidden apple cannot be gotten over even if hundreds of spiritual gurus like ChristandBuddha as born in this world. We can only harness it and it will certainly show its ugly face from timeto time. The approaches to tackle the same will also have to change with changing times. Religionsplayed a key role in ensuring socially acceptable behavior by its citizens. With the erosion of credibilityof religions, we need to look for alternative ways. Family once played a key role in imparting the rightvales in children. Today s splintered and broken families are not adequately equipped to educate theyoung minds about the right and the wrong. We basically need to give more teeth to law to make severepunishments as deterrents to these acts of corrupt practices.

We can put our faith on the millennial kids. They can boycott products/services by companies that are

indulging in corrupt practices. They can become a major force to overthrow corrupt governments, as inthe case of Egypt. People are already feeling sick and tired of the news that gets generated around thisissue. Schools and colleges should play a key role in sensitizing the young people to the issuesconcerning corruption and the loss it brings to the companies, Government and the Country as whole.We have achieved certain amount of success in bringing about environmental sensitivity among theyoung minds. The same can be done with regard to economic offenses. There is a ray of hope,emanating from the young minds.

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How to Contain Corruption