Power and Corruption
I have never felt as proud of being a Goan as when I saw the
outcome of the recent polls......Goans exercising their democratic right
to get rid of the ‘dirt bags’.(to quote Menino).
This is real Power...a show of power on the part of entire
communities to reject and vote in who they want.But the struggle is not
over.
There is much written on how power corrupts; certainly we
have but to look at those in power in our political circles to know that
it does. So how can we prevent the next batch to act similarly?
We are told that there are two kinds of power....power to
get the work done (lok seva) and power to serve one’s self interest.
What kind of men belong in each of these categories? We would like to
avoid the second type if possible.
Lawrence Kohlberg, an American psychologist , puts our
stages of moral development into six categories. Stage two include
individuals who are driven by ’what is there in it for me’ and will do
anything for this purpose as long as they can get away with it. A
prototype of stage six is Mahatma Gandhi who was totally driven by
ethical and moral laws and a higher self. Not many of us can achieve
stage six, but individuals in stage two are dangerous and can only be
curbed with laws that are applied swiftly and without mercy, and without
partisanships bribes and fear.
I phoned a friend on 6th of March and expressed my hope for
the future. Her response? ‘Wait and see. Nothing will happen because the
court cases will be delayed and soon there will be someone else in
power. What do you think happened with the criminal cases involving sex
and drugs or instances of having crores of money siphoned illegally to
foreign bank accounts? Nothing will come out of it because judges and
witnesses will be bribed.’
I could cry, but will not. If 6th of March could happen,
then the will of the people will be upheld...again.
It is therefore extremely important to seek justice when
laws are broken, not to give power over us to criminals, and in our own
lives to abhor corruption and to have the moral strength to reject
giving of bribes in any form ,even though it is, many times,the easy way
out.If you are convinced by this argument, raise your voice every time
you can to petition the powers that be, that we will no longer accept
subjugation and corruption.We should insist on a system of transparency
and checks and balances. Above all we should vote in men and women of
integrity and character.
Anyone with a criminal record should not be allowed to run
for a political office. Why is India an exception? If the wrong doers
are punished, there will be fear of repeating such crimes.
Power... intoxicating and addictive....not to be given to those
who are too immature to handle it. Schindler(of Schindler’s list)
defines power in his dialogue with the psychotic SS man who is seen
shooting any passer by at random; ‘Power’ he says ‘is when we have every
justification to kill and we don’t’......power to steal from, subjugate,
humiliate, falsely accuse, demand sex for favor of your fellow men and
women.......but refraining from doing it because of your ethical and
moral values....that is real power.
Celina Pereira
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Protect Goa's natural beauty
Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve
Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php
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