Corruption as State Policy

 

CORRUPTION AS STATE POLICY

Chandra mohan bhandari

Understanding biological evolution was one of the most remarkable things that happened to mankind. What Darwin did was to put a mirror before man where he could see what he really was. It did not change the facts although, such as what he was, what he is and what he might become. What it did change was his ego-state which got somewhat deflated ( from the initial highly inflated state) after an encounter with the mirror. What else has changed is the element of self-realisation, leading to a more modest image of the self. The impact of all this has never been uniform in entire cross section, it was not supposed to be. The impact of the great exposure depended upon several factors such as inner nature of the person, the cultural background, and the already stored self-image. There are three broad categories based upon the impact of the Darwinian exposition on mankind:

 [a] Those who are in a state of shock and completely unable to accept the fact that chimp is their nearest relative with lizard or amoeba as more ancient ones,

 [b] Those who accept things in face of hard evidence and marvel at the scheme of nature laden with interesting future possibilities, and

[3] The class of people who are quite convinced that all this is true. They not only marvel at it they go beyond and try to extend it to other domains such as that of cultural evolution. These are truly enlightened ones. Their thinking runs somewhat on t, andhese lines: Just as mutations (sudden and random accidental change in genes, the fundamental unit of life) can bring about vast changes in the biological world,  mutations of memes ( a word coined by Richard Dawkins[1] akin to gene and representing a cultural unit) can definitely bring about unanticipated changes in the concepts and everything that goes with it. Just as a gene carries a whole set of information the so-called meme carries a whole concept, a whole set of patterns with it. And it is known to wise men world over that human mind is good at making and using patterns.

The enlightened ones are extra sharp and they well understand the dynamics of human mind. Add to it the Darwinian kind of mutation of concepts and ideas and their capacity to manipulate becomes enormous. Memes mutate much faster than genes. It took billions of years for species to evolve to the present stage yet it took only thousands to bring drastic cultural changes in the world. Those who understand the mutational dynamics of  memes are in a position to use them effectively.  That is what social engineering is all about.

A few words to clear some of these notions will be useful. The power of patterns is enormous. You forget the lines of a poem, then someone utters only the first word and you recollect the entire poem. You meet someone and find it difficult to recognise him but then suddenly you hear his voice and remember the good old friend. The mind works in terms of these patterns and needless to say that these patterns are helpful in the process of learning.

There is a negative aspect too. The patterns are captivating. There is some risk of you becoming a captive of these patterns.  The masters who train zealots and fundamentalists know this and use them effectively. Multinational companies also use these ideas effectively in advertisements of products. Politicians know this better than any other class.

We were talking of Darwinian evolution. There are two different concepts that go with it: mutation and natural selection. We have already described the first. The changes that are useful in the context of environmental conditions are likely to survive and determine the direction of change. That is natural selection, and based on it Darwin coined the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’. Life has been full of struggles, bloody at times and only the best suited to a given set of conditions survive. Somewhat similar ideas are applicable to cultural life.  In that context the fittest are the cunning, the corrupt and smart manipulators. They not only survive, they flourish at the cost of the society and the nation.

Our politicians are much wiser than their counterparts elsewhere. They can use the best from all traditions and schools to further their designs. First they know that corruption is the best and safest thing to manage and manipulate the masses.  It has almost no risk and gains are enormous. Even terrorists play a risky game but not the corrupt. If you are clever enough your wrong doing may never come to notice. In case you good luck runs out and you get caught, what you have to do is to part with part of your booty and manipulate the investigating agencies. If some foolhardy investigators carry on in spite of that then you may have to spend a few weeks in jail. You may be asked to pay the income tax. When you come out you are like gold coming out of furnace - pure, spotless and shining. Now your money is no more black as you have paid the tax. It does not matter how you earned it. Great ideas, an excellent understanding of the dynamics of corruption. Darwin could not have thought that cultural evolution runs so fast.

The memes are concepts or patterns. Consider words like democratic, socialism and secular. In their pristine forms these are important concepts and represents milestones in man’s cultural journey. There have been people who used these concepts to the advantage of all including the society in its widest perspective. Gandhi was a great expert on social engineering. He knew well how to initiate a movement, how to accelerate it. He also knew how and when to call it off.

But we are not talking Gandhi in this essay. We are talking of a species in man’s cultural journey that has devalued almost all great concepts and words just to enhance the value of their own pockets at the cost of the nation and  society. They know how to survive even if the nation or the society dies a slow painful death.

The notions of three tiers in the governance of a modern state were well thought out. The executive, the legislature and the judiciary were supposed to be brought in a state of delicate balance with proper checks and balances for the larger good of the society. In fact these were the basic elements in the American constitution making which were elaborately discussed. It was not a perfect scheme of governance but given the complexity of social framework and that of the human mind it appeared to be one of the best methods. The events world over since have proved that this is so.

The same set of rules meant to nearly perfectly govern a people can prove to be not only ineffective but full of situations against human dignity if the men at the helm of affairs decide to abuse it. Three tiers with elaborate subsystems could put checks on each other and a balance could well be maintained. However, the coordination between the three tiers could be manipulated to suit the needs of a syndicate using cleverly the rules to their advantage. That is what actually happened with this nation. It is presently in the hands of smart manipulators, the smartest of all so far in man’s cultural journey.

However, recent times have seen a certain degree of disenchantment in the public who seem to understand the game plan of the great masters. They have started making noises every now and then. The masters are not usually ruffled by noises but their radars are quite effective in smelling the danger to their long term interests. And they did smell quite correctly that this time things would not be that easy to manipulate. Some obstinate Gandhian was trying to hijack their bandwagon. They always thought that they had a copyright on everything Gandhi said but how come these civil society activists start laying claims to Gandhian methods and that too without their permission. And now there is a  Baba who along with his followers want to challenge their authority. The time has come for stronger measures than usual. If their demands are accepted such as that of giving exemplary punishment for corrupt practices, they would be in jail for rest of their lives. This is wholly unacceptable, and therefore a strong action is necessary. They have to remain active in national interests. If they are sent to jail what will happen to this country. Who will be there to govern this impoverished nation ? They are the chosen people to rule, and they are the fittest to survive in any struggle. The so-called civil society could not deny the scientific fact.

[1] Richard Dawkins, the Selfish Gene, Oxford University Press, 1976.