Is Corruption The Worst Thing In The World? R&C Edit.

This post is adapted from one of mine on another platform it's same, same but different.

Corruption. It's what we talk about here at R&C, it's what I think about a lot but probably not enough. We know it's a word that is charged and relevant, not just in todays political landscape, but in the history of civilisation. The word has become increasingly required, but I don't think it is afforded the respect it demands as the potential worst thing in the world (WTITW — that worked out well). I’m sure you’d like to argue your point about how seagulls at the seaside (or anywhere), unscooped poop or crosswords are the WTITW, you can, just read this post first and then you can chime in if I haven't changed your mind.

I recently completed a post graduate diploma in Corruption & Governance, so as you might expect I wrote a bunch of academic papers on the subject, some of which have been posted on Rotten&Co, check them out here. They are interesting and worrying and add to my belief that corruption is WTITW. Here though, what I'm going to do is just rant a bit about that.

The Stinker - a surreal corruption landscape - created by AI

I have started to try to communicate the ideas from academia in more informal language and tone, especially as they aren’t generally covered as such. That is, after all one of my goals post grad — to allow citizens of the world to get a better grasp of types of corruption, how they work, and most importantly their impact and how to kill corruption (I'm working on it as we go - but the first stop is sharing ideas and education).

Obviously, humans are good at doing things that are great, but are also great at doing things that are atrociousness incarnate, they have some seriously terrible creations, inventions and conventions. But corruption seems to me to be the tyrannosaurus rex in the room, saying that, it’s so often been the do-you-think-he-saurus or something that you might equate with being silent and deadly... Both literally and figuratively it’s a shadowy and malodorous concept (it stinks IRL), it’s often passed by as it is clandestine in nature, and its specifics lacks nurture in the conversation of the wider world.

There are loads of articles and books on the subject (I will have to do a list of some of them) but the readers are often those with a vested interest. My idea is that by sharing my thoughts and more specific examples with a more nuanced understanding, that it will shine a light on the subject, especially for future generations if they want to make some progress beyond the screen in front of their faces. Unless you're reading this on your phone, then my fine friend, you really are making progress.

So, why is it the WTITW?

I think that corruption is the WTITW, because it is and can be the cause of the commonly seen as ‘worst things in the world’. I mean, from a human perspective, to apply this label I would say we naturally look at the forces that cause (or have the potential to cause) large-scale suffering, injustice, or existential risk, like war and genocide, to name two cheerful topics - these can very often be linked to a corrupt leader, group or government.

Oh, but these things can happen without corruption too, I know this, but a priori, they are 99% linked to corruption, and that's probably true. And why is that, it's because to cause suffering and injustice on a scale that impacts society, you need power. Power for our purposes here is; the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events.

I like lists, so let's make a list, keeping it high-level at this point, things are a priori more likely to happen or be exacerbated when corruption is involved. And these subjects are collected here for impact, they aren't necessarily in the same social or judicial categories, it's just an exercise in hyperbolic realism. Saying that, I could easily name 10 corrupt leaders that have caused a combination of these things...oh and the list, has magically turned into a colourful chart.

See how I add levity to the WTITW with colour and shapes, now that's communicating!

The problem with what I've done here is that I'll have to write about how each of these things is, either created or boosted by corruption - while it might prove my point it's going to be a lot of work - maybe ChatGPT can help me, with great power comes great corruption. Just think about it for a minute though, it's not hard to see how an authoritarian tyrant can bring about each of these things (cough Putin, cough cough Marcos, cough cough cough Kim-Jong Il, etc, etc).

And taking a level down we have other economic and social impacts of corruption (non-exhaustive list, just a few examples), in no particular order or schema - one colourful chart was enough - get serious will you!

poor infrastructure	lack of accountability
low domestic and foreign investment	high levels of inequality
inflation	poor eduction
monetary devaluation	high crime rates
black markets/stealth economy	trafficking
loss of trust in government	radicalisation
mass surveillance	systemic racism

Aren’t you glad you clicked, just take a breath and think of cute puppies playing - oh no, they’ve been skinned and made into a vest for a benevolent dictator...

If corruption was eliminated there would likely still be criminals and crime, but at least the criminals wouldn’t be people in charge of cities and countries. They would be the good old scumbags of society - thieves, murderers and drug dealers - I can live with these guys, they’re alright by me. As long as they don’t steal my stuff and/or murder me. But as you can see from the above macro and micro level impact, there is a whole lot going on.

Even though this is the extreme end of the stick, here's a quick faux-scenario, breakdown of the above. A corrupt leader embezzles public money meant for hospitals, schools, and infrastructure. Schools, hospitals and shops close, families must travel further and resources are strained, more kids in a class means more get sick, means more pressure on the underfunded hospital - meaning more suffering. The bridges that were meant for low footfall and small vehicles, become overused by trucks after deforestation control quotas are abandoned, heavy goods trucks damage the bridges and shoddy repair work is done by cronies to siphon further funds away - meaning more suffering. The bridge collapses, further cutting access to schools, hospital and shops, the other route takes 3 hours longer when it's clear but is now slammed, that bridge is under pressure - meaning more suffering. As resources dwindle, marshal law is implemented stating you can't travel outside your state for anything. Then there's an earthquake and everyone is saved...

Unlike that earthquake (although it could have been caused by waves of evil radiating from the corrupt leader and their cronies), corruption is man-made, I want to say human-made but that doesn't seem right - it was the men, the man, the mans (not that the women wouldn't have if they had the chance). Human-Made also a cool Japanese streetwear brand that I don't want to implicate.

Corrupt behaviour can generally be seen as a divergence from an accepted norm in an institution or position where there is a correct or right way of doing things. What it really is, is a betrayal of trust, the prioritisation of the few over the many and the hyper-normalisation of injustice. It's a right f****er isn't it!? Of course it is, but it's another thing - it's the WTITW, oh and also it's preventable.

Popping the last balloon at the party!

Think about what you might consider the worst things in the world, do you think I covered most of them? Oh my apologies, I forgot to mention pineapple on pizza! I love a Hawaiian by the way - the most corrupt pizza in the world.

All the above mentioned wrongs or wrongdoing are certainly possible without corruption being present, of course, but in my humble opinion I would say that all are enabled by corruption and are unlikely to occur without some kind of corruption being present. I would say that wouldn't I? But it's true that these terrible possibilities skip merrily hand-in-hand with corruption on the road to oblivion.

So, in conclusion I still think corruption is the worst thing in the world, with dogs on the beach and reality TV close behind. I will endeavour to elaborate on these ideas (not the dogs...), I feel like there's a grand unifying theory of corruption brewing here. I would be happy to get there, but for now I will just try to help beat the sh*t out of corruption and eventually kill it - metaphorical violence is the answer...for now.

Thanks for reading.

Alvin.

P.S. I added some connectors (they don't include all potentialities). I want to call it the chart of suffering, or the suffering of corruption, or the WTITW Flowchart, but I won't as it needs to be more professional. It's horrible, complex and it's a bit haphazard, like me. I also wanted to add suffering and death boxes but it's a bit on the nose.