Inconvenient corruption

This post started with an interesting article at TOI which was mentioned at a post at google buzz...I suggest you first read the article to get a grasp of the contents of this post...


cmon read it :)


ok so Pritish Nandy did a pretty good job in illustrating the problem...We do have a problem and we all know it and most of the times i had discussions with friends, colleagues and family, they stop at the acknowledging the problem...what about solutions?


Within a democratic system, solutions aren't easy because they can't be "unique"...solution must entertain variety which is the essence of true democracy...rationalization of laws (social and legal) and their practice will always be challenged by non/semi/classical intellectuals for obvious reasons (gives them a kick of satisfying their status seeking ego)...A military state isn't a solution too since there is nothing worse than a corrupt military state...you dont have a choice to oppose since you can be shot for opposition...Religion has failed to moralize people in true sense and rather provided them opportunity to be double-faced hypocrites...so where does our solution lies which could be practical...

To seek solution we have to dig deep into question: what makes certain people honest even at the cost of their life...it has to be more than their belief system...it has to be more than what they were taught...it has to be : what and how they understood whatever fact were presented to them...it has to be more about their choices about not putting the pant down in severe situations....


Some people reason that awareness is the key and i say its just part of the solution and not the actual solution...we all are aware of the above mentioned problem...even after reading this article (which i think millions must have read since TOI is most circulated Indian daily newspaper), readers can't claim lack of awareness now, but they will still go along with the corrupt system


why?


the keyword is CONVENIENCE...its inconvenient other way...this is how i reached the conclusion "religion has been the only religion of humanity ever"


So the key is to remove the convenience with corruption...if it is inconvenient to be corrupt, we wont be corrupt...


How should we achieve that...


A very common answer i usually get is by making tougher laws...It does not work...in fact it makes the case worse since it violates the law of "spring reaction" for human behavior...the more u suppress, the more it springs back at given opportunity...Also the laws breeds loop holes which seed corruption...the law to check the corruption in monetary process of any government organization makes them employ a large group of people to check the money flow and it is these people who then takes bribes to ensure a proper money flow to a desirable end which is mutually beneficial for them as we as the asshole who bribes...so u see, it doesn't work that way and in fact fails miserably.


Morality cant be taught...Fear based systems like communism and religion for example, ended up more corrupt than any other counterparts...


We have to recognize the simple fact that humans react to environment presented to them and they will choose a most convenient way to get a most convenient state (minimum energy path and minimum energy state in physics)...corruption is a convenient social interaction path and hence its preferred...If it can be made inconvenient, it will not be preferred...


Without brute force and fear, how can we make humans go incorruptible?


I still dont have a complete answer. I better discuss the answer when i complete it. But suggestions are always welcome. :)

Society

Well this post originated from a discussion at another blog 

Then i gave it some more serious thought and finally got convinced that this should be a new blog post here...so here it is....

What exactly is society and what place should it have in my life...few months back this question came back at my face and stood staring at me very strong, since this time it was my near and dear ones who were part of this question...the people i loved and admired all my life...it was finally time to conquer this conquest once for all...

As i see it, Society is an idea which arose out of need to find security (of most forms, physical, emotional, financial etc). “Laws” transforms this mental (idea) into a physical structure which we then term as a society. This is true for human as well as most of the terrestrial life we see on earth.

All through history i could see that societies were made in the name of kings, race, color, nations, books (termed holy), gods (termed holy), environment (recently) and all the notions that could differentiate humans beings. To “maintain” this structure (so called society) some “laws” come into existence by “common minimum intelligence” (analogy of LCM-least common multiplier in mathematics i.e something which almost everybody will agree to). This is why these laws are usually “unsaid and unwritten”; like most (not all) societies developed with a notion that women are inferior to men in most terms, homosexuality is a sin, marriage should be the only symbol of a loyal sexual relationship and likewise, families should be raised within societal standards and values should be instilled in young generation for the same, punishments tend to decrease undesired tendencies etc.

There is a hidden aspect to the idea of society and that is about laws and people who initiate, makes and maintains them. I will term them “leaders” as they are the ones who initiate the nucleation of society. They could be religiously, politically, socially or just personally motivated. 

FIRST leader randomly decided to be the boss and using his/her superior skills (mental/physical/psychological or social), (s)he starts dictating the terms thus laying the foundations for the LAWS (i would refer readers to see the movie “blindness” to get more insight into this idea).

Leader(s) has to submit to LCM level to maintain his/her position and hence most laws as mentioned above can be found in ancient as well as modern societies in almost same raw form. 

Family being the basic unit of societal system, sons (usually!) take over as future leaders and even if he does not match his fathers and forefathers in leadership, if he can maintain LCM laid down by them, he is usually accepted (example : royal families around the world present to this date) even in modern times. Ladies have found place in royalty only when "they" could not find a suitable male.

The “mob” (which accepts leaders) behaves like a shit-scared individual who is ready to buy security at any cost (freedom, individuality etc.) and the leader who promises to provide that, is welcomed as a savior.  This is as much true for kings of ancient kingdoms as its is for modern day CEOs of big corps, presidents of nations and religious leaders. The leader promises to maintains the “status quo” in the societal structure formulated by previous generations. This structure is made and maintained by LAWS.

There is a very common confusion about laws been divided in two separate sets: Social and Legal. I do not see the difference. Legal laws are defined by constitution which is considered to be a modern product and professing progressive thoughts which would avoid conflicts and solve past problems. Social laws on the other hand are considered to be born out of nowhere just like society. Social laws or better termed as social norms are set of rules which everybody obeys to be part of the society. Social laws have local character whereas legal laws are said to have humanitarian and global character. But i fail to see any objective implementation of legal laws. The illusion of different legal and social laws is a modern phenomenon. None of societies in past and present could afford to have a complete set of “objective” laws (All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others – George Orwell in Animal Farm). In practice social and legal laws have never been different. If a society is made to feel that capital punishment is bad, it enters legal system within few years. If a society is made to feel that Aryans is a superior race, then it enters legal system over some time. Legal laws are reflections of social laws with a time delay 

As i see it, laws are reflections of our fears (We have laws for each possible fear). We say that laws are necessary to maintain peace whereas in effect we actually covertly mean that we fear the changes we might have to face if we remove these laws. 

Duplicity in notification of our fears, enable the leaders in any system (fascist, democratic, aristocratic etc) to rule by making laws to satisfy our fears and makes us feel comfortable and hence they get acceptance to their existence as the protectors.

This “fear based grouping” of humans as well as other non-human systems has enabled them to be alert and more fit for physical survival but also pulled down the majority of the population’s mental level to a common minimum and any attempt to go beyond it is/was usually perceived as threat to own existence.

How about those who dont follow laws?

Can all of them can be termed as rebels?

I would like to elaborate in detail in this regard because this is the most misjudged and loosely quoted term i have heard. 

The “true” REBELS are the misfits. I added the word “true” to signify the ones who “could not be tamed” and those who went on new path out of their own passion (which will exclude the “ambulance chasers” obviously). For example, the true rebel in single mother-ship are the women who did that when it was considered a bad notion, not the ones who “chose” to be one since its no more uncomfortable. 

By this philosophical standard, rebels have always broke LAWS for which they suffered but when fruits of these broken laws tasted good, then “mob” makes them a law instead (since they don’t know anything better to do with them other than mindlessly asking everybody to conform to the new rule which few of them understand). This illustrates why the thickness of the book called constitution expands each year. Sins of past becomes acceptable with time and turned into laws. What was unimaginable for one generation, now becomes the obvious reality for the new one. I see this pattern repeatedly in almost all societies, ancient as well as modern. 

I concluded about a year back that “convenience has been the only religion of mankind ever”. The concepts of society, religion, science, technology, family are towards one end: convenience. It can be convenience of not been alone or been able to do more than ones capacity or convenience of feeling to control others and hence satisfying own insecurities etc. I guess convenience will be the keyword which an intelligent alien life will associate us.

To conclude, i would say Laws (legal or social, to me they are same) and society represent our fears and love for convenience. It has an Darwinian advantage which enabled us to survive effectively, produce in mass numbers and rule the earth but it also has an draconian disadvantage of limiting human mental potential by bounding it with limits (since laws are limits).



Of course there is no better music and song than Pink Floyd matching here :)