Houseguests, Corruption

Houseguests, Corruption

 

By John Taylor; 2006 April 30

 

Life has been hectic for the Taylor family lately. Last weekend we had as overnight guests a family of five Esperantists from Rochester, New York. It gets confusing when they are around, since their paterfamilias is named, in Esperanto, Tomaso, just like our youngest, a six-year-old. For convenience in the past we hit upon calling my youngest son by the Czech form of his name, Tomas (pronounced Tomash; Czechs use that form of the name Thomas since Tomaso means in their language "that meat.") The problem is that we all forgot that solution and used the form, Tomaso, that we are used to.

The elder Tomaso had just bought a two seated tandem add-on for his bicycle which allowed his eldest son, six year old Jonas, and the younger Tomaso to tag along and pedal from behind. We went for a spin to try this contraption out (he had just bought it on Ebay and this was the maiden voyage) and at the same time return some videos to Video Tonight, at the other end of town. It was about a kilometer there and a kilometer back

The adult Tomaso said later that it had been a strange experience to ride his normal bicycle without any need for pedaling. Two enthusiastic six-year-olds can be a powerful force, he found. Most of his energy was spent persuading them to stop pedaling so that he could slow down and stop for stop signs. I made it worse by challenging them to a race. The three of them easily left me in their dust. At home, the Alexander family already own a tandem bicycle, so with the tandem add-on, plus a baby seat, it will be theoretically possible for their whole family of five to ride together in one long bicycle train. Tomaso the elder even sketched a light-hearted plan to enable the baby to pedal too from its baby seat.

Next week our houseguests will be a Czech couple presently living in Sherbrooke, Quebec; the wife is an old friend from Marie's childhood. The plan is to take a day trip to Niagara Falls. Tomaso is looking forward to this but I dread it; last time we went, just after Christmas, my fear of heights translated itself into fear for Tomaso. I was beside myself; I could not bear seeing him anywhere near the ledge to that sheer drop below the falls. I tried to find ways for Silvie and Thomas to play their games elsewhere. This trip I think I will take my bike along and arrange to be somewhere else when they take that stroll by the cliff.

 

More On Corruption and Integrity

 

"It is a difficult task, O citizens, to make speeches to the belly, which has no ears." (Plutarch, Life of Marcus Cato, 8)

 

Let us continue our thoughts about corruption and the nature of integrity. Baha'u'llah, in the Words of Paradise, enjoins rooting out corruption,

 

"We exhort the men of the House of Justice and command them to ensure the protection and safeguarding of men, women and children. It is incumbent upon them to have the utmost regard for the interests of the people at all times and under all conditions. Blessed is the ruler who succoureth the captive, and the rich one who careth for the poor, and the just one who secureth from the wrong doer the rights of the downtrodden, and happy the trustee who observeth that which the Ordainer, the Ancient of Days hath prescribed unto him." (Kalimat-i-Firdousiyyih, Tablets, 69-70)

 

This is the unity that Baha'u'llah taught. Not compromise, but unification in truth by means of both organization and spirit. Uniting for narrow ends will not be enough as long as the overall goal, the good and permanent prosperity of the human race, escapes us. But let us not fool ourselves. Being a trustee has never been easy, for along with power comes infinite opportunities for profit. Even when a trustee himself does not stand to gain, it is too often convenient, even unavoidable, to play special interests off on one another. For the ignorant and the compromised, pandering is ever easier than edification.

This begins from our earliest days. Anyone who is distinguished in any way becomes a magnet for flatters, as Socrates observed of a gifted young leader who later nearly dragged the state under with his ambitious schemes,

 

"And Alcibiades fared no better. His personal beauty on the one hand incited bevies of fine ladies to hunt him down as fair spoil, while on the other hand his influence in the state and among the allies exposed him to the corruption of many an adept in the arts of flattery; honoured by the democracy and stepping easily to the front rank he behaved like an athlete who in the games of the Palaestra is so assured of victory that he neglects his training; thus he presently forgot the duty which he owed himself." (Zenophon, Memorabilia)

 

Our first duty, as Socrates says, is to ourselves. We all have a sense of what is right and wrong and must maintain our integrity in that in the face of sore temptation. This is far from easy, for the first weapon that bad guys use, even before violence, is bribery. Consider the prayer in the Psalms,

 

"Do not gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men in whose hands is wickedness. Their right hand is full of bribes. But as for me, I will walk in my integrity. Redeem me, and be merciful to me. My foot stands in an even place. In the congregations will I bless Yahweh." (Ps 26:9-12, WEB)

 

I read in this morning's paper a good example of integrity, the story of a young Toronto actress. Following the advice of her teachers, she decided to specialize in an area that no other actor is doing. Although her hearing is good, she learned American Sign Language and became adept at portraying deaf people; even before graduating from her ASL course she had job offers. But in the meantime she had met many gifted deaf actors and her integrity made her refuse these offers. Why are real deaf talents being ignored? So instead of putting herself first, she decided to put on a theatre production showcasing these talented but ignored young actors and actresses to the agents and casting directors who determine the direction of these peoples' careers. All her friends had called her crazy for turning down job offers but by following the voice of conscience she no doubt forged a better and just as successful path for herself in life.

Most people think of Charles Darwin's voyage as one of scientific discovery but on his way through Argentina he uncovered a climate of open corruption that is, I think, instructive, so I cite it at length.

 

"Police and justice are quite inefficient. If a man who is poor commits murder and is taken, he will be imprisoned, and perhaps even shot; but if he is rich and has friends, he may rely on it no very severe consequence will ensue. It is curious that the most respectable inhabitants of the country invariably assist a murderer to escape: they seem to think that the individual sins against the government, and not against the people. A traveler has no protection besides his fire-arms; and the constant habit of carrying them is the main check to more frequent robberies."

"The character of the higher and more educated classes who reside in the towns, partakes, but perhaps in a lesser degree, of the good parts of the Gaucho, but is, I fear, stained by many vices of which he is free. Sensuality, mockery of all religion, and the grossest corruption, are far from uncommon. Nearly every public officer can be bribed. The head man in the post-office sold forged government franks. The governor and prime minister openly combined to plunder the state.

"Justice, where gold came into play, was hardly expected by any one. I knew an Englishman, who went to the Chief Justice (he told me, that not then understanding the ways of the place, he trembled as he entered the room), and said, "Sir, I have come to offer you two hundred (paper) dollars (value about five pounds sterling) if you will arrest before a certain time a man who has cheated me. I know it is against the law, but my lawyer (naming him) recommended me to take this step." The Chief Justice smiled acquiescence, thanked him, and the man before night was safe in prison. With this entire want of principle in many of the leading men, with the country full of ill-paid turbulent officers, the people yet hope that a democratic form of government can succeed!" (Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle)

 

Darwin was correct; a healthy democracy depends upon the integrity of a large proportion of the population, and especially their leaders. Otherwise government, whatever its form, degrades into kleptocracy, leadership by thieves. Present democratic leaders, sophisticated as their publicists are, cannot escape the impression that that they are the best that money, big money of course, can buy. They cannot escape it, so they do not even try. They are quite open and honest about their dishonesty. One example is an American senator, Christopher Bond, who stands up for Briggs and Stratton, who own two factories in his home state. Their fight is against all those who selfishly wish to breathe clean air.

 

"... as soon as air pollution regulators suggested adding a golf-ball-sized catalytic converter to the lawn mower, they found themselves in one of their fiercest political battles of the past decade. On one side, the federal Environmental Protection Agency and state regulators in California. On the other, the largest lawn and garden equipment maker in the country and a powerful Republican senator. And in the middle, the 6 million or so lawn mowers shipped to retailers every year."

"For older regulators, it is a replay of Detroit's initial resistance to those who wanted to clean up car exhaust by installing catalytic converters, which pull smog-forming chemicals and carbon monoxide out of the exhaust. Sen. Christopher S. Bond, R-Mo., has repeatedly put hurdles in front of regulators. Bond operates from a position of strength in these matters. He is chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that controls the budgets of agencies like the EPA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission." (Felicity Barringer, "Lawn Mowers on Pollution Hit List," New York Times)

 

Kleptocracy is not the rare thing that I once thought it was, probably it has predominated in most places most of the time throughout history. Proof of that was the preponderance of slavery in most past empires and societies. Slavery is in effect legalized theft of a person's labor and life's work. I predict that in future political scientists will stop paying attention to forms and methods and will realize that there are only two real types of political organization, kleptocracy or theocracy. There is no in-between, there is self of God. They will learn, in other words, to pay attention to the proverb,

 

"To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress." (Prov 28:21)

 

We will continue this discussion of corruption sometime soon.

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