We, The Corrupt

We're repulsed by the numbers from the 2G scam, from CWG, by what Bangaru Laxman did, and whats been happening with mining, land allocation, tribal "resettlement" etc across states.

 

Should we be? 

 

Some of the HR teams at some MNCs and other large organizations have a pretty sullied image amongst techies. There's nepotism, and money changes hands on a regular basis for recruitment services. 

 

Land deals for big corporates are opportunities to make money directly and indirectly - just like it happens at the level of the government of the state when deciding on infrastructure projects. Many an employee in admin has been known to build a huge house soon after a big deal.

 

Doctors approving/recommending clinical trials at the behest of drug companies was big news in today's papers. And Aamir Khan revived the discussion around their culpability in sex determination and illegal foetus termination on the TV recently.

 

These are folks amongst and around us. Rich, well off folks. 

 

Someone in the extended family has been facing tons of issues at work because they refuse to "fit in" at an quasi-government hospital - every little opportunity to make money is exploited. Someone else I know was brought in to fix large-scale corruption issues at one of the companies of a very well respected (for its ethics!) business house we all know of.

 

And we take umbrage at the bus conductor - a comparitively very poor bloke - making 2/- off a ticket. 

 

A couple of generations ago - it did exist then too (though perhaps on a much smaller scale) - it was not acceptable socially to be known to have such sources of income. Folks would resign, and retire from society, perhaps in shame. Today, thats almost turned into pride, if not something to gloat about.

 

Has is just become part of our ecnomically-motivated-all-else-be-damned fabric? Is is just about opportunity and the risk of getting caught? Are we all funadamentally too weak when face to face with the little packet of cash that'll get us our iPad or new phone or this or that?

 

I fear the answer is not nice one. I fear what we see in the politician and big deals he does is a mere reflection of who we've become fundamentally. Grab-when-possible is our mantra. Damn what its doing to us, and damn the long run. 

 

If we really ever want to fix this, we have to change. We have to stop respecting money irrespective of its hue and colour. We have to also respect efforts that do not yield hard cash. We have to make things other than a big bank balance cool, acceptable and a desirable goal again. We have to make get-rich-soon socially undesirble - as long as thats ok morality will be bent. We have to make morality itself cool again - its an often-mocked notion right now.

 

Stricter rules won't cut it unless we fundamentally find it reprehensible, and are unable to look at ourselves in the mirror if we sway. Today, we almost admire it and the outcry is almost merely - well - envy.

Anna Hazare, Ramdev, et al : What Are We Fighting For?

Somewhere, I don't believe that its corruption per se that bothers us so much. Its existed forever. We've participated in it, willingly or otherwise. At the very least, we're desensitized to the whole thing.

So why have these fasts and protests resonated so much, especially amidst the GIMC ?

I think we're feeling left out, and reasonably helpless. The dialogue between us and the ever-aligned politicians has completely broken down over the last couple of decades. And we hardly vote, in any case. The political class has freely "participated" in the growing GDP with no checks and balances, and the excesses, brazenness of it all, coupled with the current lack of even a semblance of any counterbalance that we might be able to provide to this has finally gotten to us.

I think, despite the very very naive and sometimes even dangerous thinking thats trying to fill up this vacuum, that this is a good thing to happen. Our overall cynicism levels might actually drop. The best case outcome will be a process that starts and sustains an issue based dialogue between legislators, administrators and the citizenry. Of course, this'll need "them" to re-establish some credence and us to be less suspicious of everything political (in itself not a dirty word, its only muddied as practiced, quite like religion).

Engagement, and not hostility and antagonism, will be the right way forward and hopefully we'll get there as the current flare-ups settle.

The really really big question is - do we have the sustained enthusiasm and interest in a functioning democracy and dialogue? Or will a short term assertion of citizen power satiate our collective egos ? Many in the classes that stand to benefit from our lack of involvement will be counting on us to run out of breath and soon get caught up again in upgrading our lives as dictated by the glossies and the idiot box.

Where the hell was I, and where were you ?

First, just watch this one:



Crime/scandal on TV is a spectator sport. even Twitter is not too different. A breakup is about as interesting as a rice scam or corruption in a highway deal or irregularities at a Petrol Pump.

We catch it on all channels, we discuss it with indignation, clench our teeth, feel frustrated, and the next week brings a different story. If it happens to be another scam, rinse and repeat. If its Mdme Sawant or the like, add a few jibes, titillation and perhaps satire to it.

Whats amazing is, despite this mass of mere spectators, we have a relentless stream of whistleblowers! Jai Hind to those few, and to their spirit. I dunno about the spirit of Mumbai and all that, but these few individuals needed much more from us, the TRP/pageview drivers.

Update:

The "unnees, unnees, unnees, unnees ....... " was haunting me - so did a little bit on the web. Here's a blog post with the lyrics and the history behind them. I had completely missed, and not known about Navleen Kumar. Its a funny mix of feelings you get on hearing this song.