Minimization of Desires Cannot Cleanse Society of All Forms of Corruption

Minimization of Desires Cannot Cleanse Society of All Forms of Corruption

It is just August, but already 2011 is being called the year of scams. News of cases of money laundering, nepotism, embezzlement and fraud is now a daily phenomenon. So the very first question that strikes our mind is- How can this nuisance be tackled? There are several ways to tackle it, but the paradigm today’s motion proposes, to say the least is extremely idealistic and naïve. Benedict de Spinoza once said that want is the very essence of man. We must be realistic, how can human wants be curbed? And that too in a democratic country like India where 26 % live below poverty line. Trying to reduce wants in such a country is not just impossible but frankly it is barbaric.
A poor man suffering from typhoid is forced to bribe the indifferent doctor to treat him because otherwise he cannot survive!!!! Now let me ask all of you this simple question, can this poor man be asked to stay ill for the noble cause of reducing corruption?
Now my opponents will argue that low desires is equal to low corruption. I must say, this is a preposterous statement. I would like to tell them that countries like India, Pakistan, Niger and Chad have a very low Human Development Index and a very low Purchasing Power Parity but still, it is THESE countries that rank very high on the Corruption Perceptions Index. On the other hand, countries like Norway, Denmark and Canada rank very high on the same scales but still, they have VERY low corruption.
Therefore, we must brush aside this idealism and as Eduard Shevardnadze once said, thoroughly study the phenomenon and eliminate the foundations that allow it to exist. As we all know, India has very high inflation but civil servants receive salaries which are nothing as compared to those received by their counterparts in the private sector. So, the desire to earn more money the easy way is bound to arise.
We must keep one thing in mind- corruption is like a virus- it survives only in a conducive environment. Sadly, our civil society is far...

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