Dear Editor,
The world is becoming a more dangerous place. With a loss of shared values, the rise of unpredictable leaders, the increasing concentration of wealth and power, the rejection of science, logic, expertise and even truth, increasing nationalism and division, a disregard for the needs and desires of the young and of future generations, the headlong destruction of environmental resources and life support systems, the weakening of the climate, and a debt-driven economic and financial system raping the planet for short-term profit.
These contrary winds are sweeping away many hopeful signs of progress, and seem to be leading us to a disaster of multiple dimensions and unimaginable consequences.
Just for a moment, let’s reflect on the moral dimensions of corruption, particularly in the light of some recent political events. Corruption is traditionally defined as the abuse of public office for private gain, including bribery, nepotism and misappropriation; extra-legal efforts by individuals or groups to gain influence over the actions of the bureaucracy; the collusion between parties in the public and private sectors for the benefit of the latter; and more generally influencing the shaping of policies and institutions in ways that benefit the contributing private parties at the expense of the broader public welfare.
But on reflection, the corruption eating into the energies of global society today is more than just the material corruption of bribery for personal gain. It is any undue preference given to personal or private gain at the expense of the public or collective interest, including the disloyalty of a public trust or office in Government. It is also the manipulation of a corporate responsibility for self-enrichment, the distortion of truth and denial of science to manipulate the public for ideological ends, and even the misuse of a sacred responsibility to acquire power and wealth. Corruption is just one expression of the priority given to one’s self over others, of egoism over unselfishness, of personal over collective benefit.
We often underestimate the impact of corruption on environmental destruction and mismanagement because, as an illegal activity, it escapes from statistics—but it causes the failure of many efforts at environmental protection and management, whether from traffic in endangered species, illegal logging and fishing, and ignoring or evading environmental rules.
It is like the struggle between good and evil, it is nothing new, but it is expressed in complex new forms which all begin with human morality. Morality starts with the nature and purpose of human beings. We are born with an animal nature and the potential for much more, a potential realised through education, an education with material, intellectual and ethical dimensions. Without the right education, our ego and selfish desires dominate, our lives driven by self-interest and physical passions. It is perfectly natural to be selfish and aggressive, and for some, you can’t change human nature. Corruption is an expression of this, as are war, crime, dictatorships and the many other ways that self-interest expresses itself today.
Every civilization in which these forces of disintegration become dominant has eventually collapsed. Self-contentedness in all its forms has become the philosophy for self-justification behind the conservative movements of today—whether in the no-liberal economy that drives the concentration of wealth and power; political ideologies of total individual freedom that reject any constraints or regulations in the common interest; national sovereignty that leans to isolationism and self-protection behind strong borders; racism that places one ethnicity or culture above all others; multi-national corporations for which the right to profits overrides all other interests; and even criminal organisations for which illegal activities form the fastest route to money and power. These ideologies forget that Adam Smith’s invisible hand of self-interest was initially balanced by an individual sense of moral responsibility. They assume that the larger good will somehow naturally emerge or trickle down from all these selfish drives, while in practice they only serve to entrench the rich and powerful.
Paradoxically, human beings have the capacity for much more, as the history of the rise of civilizations has repeatedly demonstrated. Education is what allows culture, science, innovation and social cohesion to develop. It cultivates all the potentials available in each individual, whether the physical capacity for athletic performance or feats of endurance, the intellectual capacity for rational thought, scientific investigation and cultural creation, the emotional capacity for unselfishness, empathy, solidarity and cooperation, or the spiritual capacity for love, humility, forgiveness, volition, generosity, and self-effacement into a higher collective entity. All these dimensions of education complement and mutually reinforce each other, and neglecting any of them can lead to undesirable outcomes. Important to all of this is the shared morality on which any society must be built, with values that contribute to social cohesion, favour unity in diversity and leave no one behind. Education transmits those values and ensures the sustainability of the society.
Today, it seems those values are receding.
Yours faithfully,
Rooplall Dudhnath
