Corrupter or Corruptee
When I was thinking of a title for this post I realised that both the words that I was planning to use were actually not words at all. However the sense of what needs to be conveyed is brought out clearly enough.
The question that I want to address is: who is more culpable? There is an ongoing case in India right now where a very senior retired Air Force Officer has come under a cloud. This is, of course, nothing new and there are literally hordes of people in power who have been accused of various kinds of wrong doing at different points in time. On the other side there is a spider web of corruption. Money in unimagined quantities, women and all sorts of blandishments abound.
I have often speculated on the nature of corruption. There is a famous (very likely apocryphal) story of George Bernard Shaw and an actress. When GBS asked the actress if she would sleep with him for a million dollars she said yes! Afterwards he asked her whether she would sleep with him for a hundred dollars to which she replied indignantly - "What do you think I am". GBS's inimitable reply was "Madam we have already established your profession. We are now merely negotiating the price." The story, of course, reiterates that every man (or woman) has his price and is hence corruptible. It is this kind of thinking that leads down the slippery slope to a morally corrupt society.
The fact is that corrupters and tempters are as old as Satan. They have (to use a Biblical term) sold their souls for material benefits. Their belief is to trade long term discomfort in a possibly mythical purgatory for current pleasure. While such men are dangerous and a menace to society they are at least predictable. One expects a loan shark to arm twist people to recover his money or a pimp to make money out of women. Or even a commision agent to pursue men in power with his bag of goodies. What they are banking on is that like GBS demonstrates in his apocryphal story that every man has his price.
What is truly despicable and difficult to understand is persons who abuse their positions of power (which they have presumably reached through genuine hard work and brilliance) for narrow, selfish ends. Temptations will always abound and the more senior the posts you hold the larger the potential rewards of corruption. But there is no excuse for people who fall a prey to such temptation. Truly, Corruptees are worse than Corrupters.
Take a look at my new book - Journey to the Hills and other Stories
Amazon Pothi
The question that I want to address is: who is more culpable? There is an ongoing case in India right now where a very senior retired Air Force Officer has come under a cloud. This is, of course, nothing new and there are literally hordes of people in power who have been accused of various kinds of wrong doing at different points in time. On the other side there is a spider web of corruption. Money in unimagined quantities, women and all sorts of blandishments abound.
I have often speculated on the nature of corruption. There is a famous (very likely apocryphal) story of George Bernard Shaw and an actress. When GBS asked the actress if she would sleep with him for a million dollars she said yes! Afterwards he asked her whether she would sleep with him for a hundred dollars to which she replied indignantly - "What do you think I am". GBS's inimitable reply was "Madam we have already established your profession. We are now merely negotiating the price." The story, of course, reiterates that every man (or woman) has his price and is hence corruptible. It is this kind of thinking that leads down the slippery slope to a morally corrupt society.
The fact is that corrupters and tempters are as old as Satan. They have (to use a Biblical term) sold their souls for material benefits. Their belief is to trade long term discomfort in a possibly mythical purgatory for current pleasure. While such men are dangerous and a menace to society they are at least predictable. One expects a loan shark to arm twist people to recover his money or a pimp to make money out of women. Or even a commision agent to pursue men in power with his bag of goodies. What they are banking on is that like GBS demonstrates in his apocryphal story that every man has his price.
What is truly despicable and difficult to understand is persons who abuse their positions of power (which they have presumably reached through genuine hard work and brilliance) for narrow, selfish ends. Temptations will always abound and the more senior the posts you hold the larger the potential rewards of corruption. But there is no excuse for people who fall a prey to such temptation. Truly, Corruptees are worse than Corrupters.
Take a look at my new book - Journey to the Hills and other Stories
Amazon Pothi
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