It may surprise you who is corrupt

I often hear people talking about "corruption." I really began to take notice when I started working on a project for Ukraine, which many feel is the most corrupt country in the world. People point to the use of bribes as evidence of corruption. I hear people accusing political candidates and business executives as "corrupt" because of their greed.  It does not seem to me that everyone knows what they are really saying when they accuse institutions or persons as being corrupt. So I decided its time to blog on this, cause that's what I do :-)

First what does "corruption" mean? I like to go to the 1828 Webster's Dictionary in order to avoid what culture has done to the definition of words in the past several centuries. "Corruption" literally means the destruction of the natural form, a perversion or deterioration of the purity of the original state. Paul uses the notion of corrupt as an adjective to explain the difference between God (incorruptible) and man (corruptible). Here corrupt deals with the decaying or perishable nature of something, but that's for another time.

Let's look at the "corruption" of government. First, what is the natural state of a government. Government is the body of rules and practices that a society establishes to meet certain needs of its citizens. Therefore, anything that alters this original intent corrupts the government.

Let's go back to the bribe issue. Brides look corrupt to us because it is an alteration of the way government works in our country. We pay government employees well so they can make decisions that are in the best interest of society without having to consider how personal gain is related to the decision. However, people in Ukraine and Russia do not necessarily consider bribes as corruption. The reason is that the government does not pay employees much and expects government workers to be compensated from their opportunities to receive money from the people they help as a part of their government services. Don't get me wrong, I am not endorsing brides, I am not saying this is a good way for government to function. BUT, I am just asking the question "do bribes in these countries alter the natural state of government where the practice is normal?" In other words, is bribing really perverting how government is ordered? The practices of government may need to be changed to be more effective, but is it really "corrupt"?

Let's contrast this with how government now works in the US relative to its original intent. Many people in positions of power in government seem to be more interested in maintaining their power than solving the needs of society. Partisan politics are more important than solutions. Using government agencies like the IRS to manipulate the public for the purpose of remaining in power contaminates or corrupts the purity of the purpose of government. Distorting Senate rules to have one's own way has become commonplace. Seeing the Courts as an agent of Social Justice perverts the Constitutional intent.

In the US we frown on using bribes and claim it is corrupt and hold up our country as less corrupt. I would contend that the people who are responsible for making government work, such as senators, congressmen, executive branch administrators, and even court justices at all levels are corrupting our government in MASSIVE ways. Both political parties have destroyed the natural form of governing. This may not look like "corruption" as we are used to seeing it, but it is "corruption" none the less.

The US may in fact be the most corrupt government in the world because those in government have totally abandoned public service to solve needs of society in order to protect their own positions of power.

Solutions to all of our problems exist. It only takes people in positions of power in government to act according to the natural order of governing society. Then and only then will we not have a corrupt government.

Now apply this view of corruption to the media, to education, to health experts, and on and on. What do you see?


At least that's what I have been pondering recently ....