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An Attempt at an Essay

An Attempt At An Essay

Here’s an attempt of mine at an essay entitled ‘Corruption is the root of all evil’.

How would one begin to define ‘corruption’? Is it the willingness to perform immoral acts in return for money? Or perhaps it refers to a man’s actions that define an Evil character. Once corruption has been defined, it then becomes necessary to set the parameters of what we regard as ‘evil’ or ‘immoral’; these parameters differ from culture to culture, religion to religion, and even from one individual to the next. Suppose we claim something to be evil because of the benefits it reaps for the performer of the heinous deed, and the compromises it makes simultaneously on the safety of the people and the environment surrounding the person. Before moving on with this assumption in mind, it should be duly noted that the engaging in such an act is fully conscious – the person is very well-aware of the boons and banes of his actions; there is asymmetric information, and the more informed is the man who chooses to participate in the activity.

There is a lot of evil in the world as we know it; there is hunger when there should be full stomachs, disease when there should be rosy cheeks, and crime when there should be no burglar alarms. What we tend to ignore is that all of this evil is linked; evil begets greater evil, and eventually, the world suffers. We are now experiencing extremities that were never perceived a few centuries ago: bankrupt or a billionaire, starving or obese. Money has fallen into the hands of a selective few, and these individuals are unwilling to budge from their comfort zones; how they entered those comfort zones could be completely related to our topic. It can be argued that many people who established themselves as part of the elite class have done so through sheer hard work and perseverance, but when matters like these are discussed, generalization is unavoidable. Now one wonders how pocketing a few thousand (or a hundred thousand) rupees causes a child’s stomach to swell from malnutrition in Somalia; it is time we saw the bigger picture of our actions and the effects they have. Do not be fooled; a few extra possessions in your hand can and will oppress those who are snatched of their basic necessities – I use the word ‘snatched’ here to emphasize that these needs, which would have readily been available to them otherwise, are taken from them because of our avariciousness. Our bungalows and Prados leave their hopes and plates empty.

Corruption occurs at every level. A toddler will snatch his brother’s toy away from him and hide it; a child will eat his ice-cream in a rush and demand another one on the pretense that he dropped the last one; a teenager will take her mother’s credit card to buy the trendiest shoes in town; the adult, who we’ve been taught are ‘always right’ and ‘very responsible’, could sleep during office hours or chat on Facebook with old friends. It may seem trivial and even unworthy of second thought, but we should consider the fact that all small evils and corruptive acts multiply into greater evils; a rupee cheated today is a million rupees embezzled tomorrow. No man goes to sleep one day, more or less normal, then wakes up the next with his conscience entirely erased. It starts with the most trivial things, and develops into devastating consequences.

Being a (hopefully) careful adherent of Islam, I must include a saying of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) regarding the topic at hand. He said:

“Whoever among you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand (by taking action); if he cannot, then with his tongue (by speaking out); and if he cannot, then with his heart (by hating it and feeling it is wrong), and that is the weakest of faith.”

Sahih Muslim: Volume One: Chapter 20

Whilst saying this, the Prophet (SAW) knew how even silence is dangerous when you see someone involving themselves in inappropriate behaviour; he encouraged stopping it, and, as per the Hadith, has even entitled those who do nothing (despite hating the deed in their hearts) as the weakest Muslims. We can apply this perfectly to our daily lives; a young and well-educated man gnawing on a Kitkat bar carelessly lets the wrapper drop on the ground – he can afford to purchase a branded chocolate bar but cannot throw its covering in a trash-can. He is a classic example of a clear dichotomy between literacy and ethics. If you were to point out his mistake to him, or proceed to throw the garbage into the trash-can yourself, you might be ridiculed and highlighted in the most negative fashion. This again shows the level of corruption we are exposed to regularly. Without collective action, we will not see a change in the evils in society, no matter how much our hearts ache with every malpractice.

Let us return to the topic; that is, ‘corruption is the root of all evil’. This phrase suggests that every evil action we commit culminates from our corrupt practices; evil is born because there is corruption. George Orwell’s 1984 (a fascinating read) is a story about a man, Winston Smith, living in the dystopian era of a ruler who is referred to as ‘Big Brother’ throughout. Told in the third person and published in 1949, this story narrates how robotic the lifestyle of the common man is in the (then) future; food is dull, work is monotonous, and the pleasures of life are carefully eliminated by ‘Big Brother’ and his workers, alias the ‘Thought Police’. The layman is controlled in every way possible, from what he wears to what he watches on television. There is ‘Thoughtcrime’, which is a crime committed when an individual as much as thinks a thought that does not adhere to Big Brother’s rules. Big Brother has conjured three slogans: ‘War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength’; a Two Minutes Hate is arranged every day to show one’s hatred towards Goldstein, a professed rebel, and attendance is compulsory. I will not go into details of the book, which is a must-read, but suffice it to say that the supporters of Big Brother are dulling the minds of the majority to seek ‘power, pure power’. The book skillfully expounds the effects of the thirst for something – be it power, money, or luxury – on society as a whole.

We may not see the ill-effects of our misdeeds; most probably, we just reap what we sow and take off without even giving the harvested land as much as a second glance. Corruption in itself may not necessarily be an evil act; what would you say about a poor little boy who is hungry enough to sneak into a bakery and run off with a piece of bread? This is a corrupt act, but it was necessary to fend off the boy’s hunger. Perhaps if nowadays’ consumption-oriented classes decided to spend a little more in charity instead of on a 4.5 million gold watch for their son on his birthday (true story), there would be no need for that lad to steal the food and eventually grow up to be a professional mafia-leader who in turn spends all his money on corrupt practices. Our corruption in the form of oppressing these lower-classes has resulted in the boy becoming, quite literally, evil. The subject may be clichéd; a lot of movies and novels display the rise from being in rags and hating the elite, to rolling in luxuries and being part of the elite. Yet others, like The Amazing Spiderman 2, show how a diligent worker neglected by his own boss (his corrupt boss, that is, who makes the man overwork) turns into a monster breathing for revenge on humanity (the corrupt boss has caused his employee to become evil).

It is very true that corruption is indeed the root of evil, but it is the root of most evil, not all of it. A man may be evil because of his weak character; he acquiesces to the slightest provocation, and finds it easier to participate in evil whole-heartedly than spending his time trying to avoid it. Evil is also a result of peer pressure; also known as ‘Monkey See, Monkey Do’ behaviour, this can be absolutely damaging, especially when your peers love to ‘party hard’. What is evil in one society may be a necessity in another, thus this could be another case where corruption has not led to evil.

Being human-beings, we are the best of species thanks to our intellectual abilities. It is beyond time we begin to put our minds to some use. We need to understand the true consequences of our actions and act more responsibly towards ourselves and our nation.



This post first appeared on Writing Towards Change, please read the originial post: here

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An Attempt at an Essay

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