The Third World's Culture of Corruption

Throughout the Third World there is a culture of Corruption. It certainly exists in the West too but it isn't as culturally supported. In the Third World the family is still considered the fundamental building block of society. If somebody succeeds they are expected to share the benefits of their prosperity. For example if a woman marries well, or a man succeeds in government they are expected to share that success with their family. Anything goes with this power sharing as long as it doesn't become excessive and as a consequence the law is little impediment. In these countries the law is viewed as a constraint and most anything goes as long as you don't get caught. It is only being accused, called out and/or convicted that corrupt behavior becomes egregious.

The Greeks introduced to the Western World many fine ideas one of which was this idea of Honor. They were not the greatest practitioners but sometimes a good notion takes hold even if those responsible don't take it to heart. Embodied in the concept is that a citizen of quality will obey the law because it's the right thing to do. They don't obey it because they fear the sanctions but rather see the purpose and understand the need to obey regulations that order society for the good. Such citizens see the greater needs of the whole while still understanding that self interest (greed) is a basic human trait.

Now please don't take this to mean that in the West citizens operate on a higher moral plane. People in the West are just as prone to corruption as anyone else, however, the distinction is that they know better. Hillary Clinton is a classic example. While most have some vague notion of what honor is they still need the law to underpin their behavior. The distinction is that they have been exposed to how the Scientific Method (SM) works. The SM is an optimization process and what is being optimized is the idea of "Good." Good is a thought or action that improves the human condition over what might occur had no human intervention taken place. To a quality citizen a law is seen as good if it makes sense and they obey it because it seems best to do so. However, all citizens do not subscribe to what I call the "Honor Standard." For most this standard is too high. For many it lacks definition and even to the most law abiding has the tendency to deviate when self-interests come into conflict. Having said all this let me once more stress the distinction.

In the West, people know corruption to be wrong in both a moral and legal sense. In Asia, they see the wrong more in a legal terms where the crime is not so much moral as a consequence of getting caught. If someone is able to further their ambitions by avoiding the sanctions of the law they are seen as "shrewd," In Third World Countries, particularly Asia, shrewd is good. It is embodied in their culture and we can send them to our Universities where they excel in parroting knowledge without really understanding what propels it. They make high marks without really buying into the contributions made by the Greeks that catapulted Western technology to where it is today. They are no more advanced culturally than they were when Alexander the Great first demonstrated the real power of the West. In third worlds MIGHT is still RIGHT. They respect military power but see only weakness in trying to rise above those baser aspects of the human condition.