Of late one gets a clear impression from the news that the entire world has its collective panties in a knot over corruption. This big "C" is seen as being behind the successful recruiting efforts of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Legions of critics assert that corruption is the single greatest feature abroad in Vladimir Putin's regime and Russia generally. And, Transparency International, a group given to the study of such distasteful matters, assures us in a recent poll that perceptions of corruption are going up almost faster than can be tracked.
Apparently the defining feature of today's political, economic, and judicial arenas is the prevalence of corruption, that is the exchange of money for favored consideration. Whether Mexico or Pakistan, Africa or Eastern Europe, there is a widespread view that without the handing over of money, it is impossible to have access to necessary governmental or judicial services. Even in countries such as Denmark where no one seems to have had any direct encounter with corruption, the perception is that systems of law, economic order, political practices are rotten to the core with corruption and graft being normative.
The Geek has encountered discreetly outstretched palms in Asia, Latin America, and Africa--as well as the US. Her Geekness has a great tale of how her family was held for hours at the border of Bulgaria back in the days of the Cold War while other vehicles breezed through only later to discover the reason for the delay was her father's probity preventing him from passing over the required amount of valeuta, As these international encounters occurred long ago there is reason to believe that corruption is neither new nor as alarming in effect as recent reports hint.
If the journalists, academics, diplomats, and military people currently in such a snit over corruption and its harmful effects on US interests (to say nothing of local morality) were to take the briefest look at the diplomatic correspondence and the memoirs of travelers from a century or so back, they would quickly discover two salient facts. The first was that corruption was rampant not only in the Ottoman Empire, but in the lesser developed regions of the world generally, East and West, North and South alike. The second, and far more surprising fact, is the calm and creative way in which Americans and Europeans both diplomatic personnel and private citizens dealt with the plethora of corrupt officials and businessmen.
Only a few of the most moralistically inclined--mainly missionaries--actually objected to the widespread corruption or were of the view that corrupt officials prevented the exercise of diplomatic or commercial duties. There were very few who saw the outstretched hands and unctuous smiles as undercutting the ability of foreign governments to function. Whenever local citizens complained of corruption, it was with the same theme--the unfairness, the inequality with which the fruits of corruption were distributed.
To do business, as well as to prevent undue inflation in the bribe, graft, corruption, and kickback department, it was far from unusual to see Western embassies establish acceptable rates or percentages of corruption. In short, the diplomatic establishments of the Western countries institutionalized corruption. This model was quickly followed by commercial interests, tourists and, yes, even missionary organizations.
This approach allowed for corruption to be domesticated and, as a very real benefit, distributed with greater equity within the several recipient communities. It set limits and promoted cooperative competition within the locals both official and private.
Once institutionalized, there was no functional difference between corruption at the governmental level and corruption at the personal as in the bribes offered to restaurant personnel under the rubric of "tips." Both are understood, limited and fairly distributed forms of corruption. Indeed, at the personal level, the institutionalization of bribery has reached the point that the fixed percentage is built into the bill presented to the diner.
Looking back, even to relatively recent years, corruption was so well understood by Western governments and businesses that it was factored in to aid packages, contracts, and all the other forms of transaction where the passage of money could facilitate matters. In the Fifties and Sixties, there are numerous examples from both public and private accounts of the governmental equivalent of the comprehensive price system used by some restaurants. Just one more line item, no big deal, no reason to pump up a storm of moral outrage; it's just the way things are done around here.
The fascination not to say fixation on corruption is another unfortunate legacy of the Sixties. The fear and loathing, the spewing of moral opprobrium on corruption also paralleled the rise in concern on human rights which is a product of the Carter period. The parallel may be accidental but it is all too evident--and even more destructive of effective international relations than the human rights matters.
The objection to corruption put forth by Afghans or Pakistanis is identical: The bribes, the graft, the corruption generally is not equitably distributed; it is not available to all comers. The same sentiment can be detected in venues as disparate as Nigeria and Venezuela.
It rather resembles studies done with chimps which show that as long as every member of a troupe gets the same goody, say a cucumber, everyone is happy. But if some individuals get the much more prized melon slice or banana, those unfortunate enough to be stuck with a previously acceptable cucumber are outraged. Dissent, even violence erupts. Chaos ensues. The inbuilt sense of fairness has been insulted.
So it is with humans. As long as only some are eligible to receive the fruits of corruption or there is a wide differential between levels of corruption, the have-nots or have-less folks will be disturbed deeply and denounce the existence of corruption. If given a fair share, the protests fade with the speed of Obama's approval rating.
This suggests an easy solution, an answer to the problem of corruption which will be cheaper and more effective than the efforts to stamp it out. The answer is to duplicate past experience and build in the line item marked "corruption." Sure, a more euphemistic term would be necessary lest the morally pure and high minded sorts in Congress and the media be offended, but rebranding comes easily to politicians.
It doesn't even harm the counterinsurgency effort in Afghanistan and elsewhere if the corruption flows in part to the insurgents provided it is used as a way of weaning these guys away from the lure of sleeping on the ground, eating bad food, and getting shot at. Insurgents, other than the most hard core sort who need to be killed, are amenable to the seduction of ready cash. That is as long as the cash is not tendered as a direct payment for abandoning the "Cause." The goal would be a manageable black economy in which corruption becomes a weapon for the central government.
The stresses imposed on traditional societies by the Western challenge, particularly in places long wracked with internal conflict can and should be assuaged by a creative use of corruption. The corruption is not going to suddenly vanish no matter how much it may be desired by the US government and others of well meaning orientation. It is a necessary part of the human face of these societies as well as a way in which leaders justify their position in life.
Once the ground truths both past and present involving the Big "C" are recognized and understood, the presence of corruption should be used to the advantage of American policy. To do otherwise is an act of incredible stupidity no matter how much moralizing is employed. To reject the potentials for success resident in the proper use of corruption is akin to inviting either defeat or an unnecessarily prolonged and bloody effort.
But, we are Americans and thus not given to allowing unpleasant, not to say immoral, realities to impinge on our consciousness.
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