A conversation on TED.com: Will corruption ever be eradicated?

Krimo Bouabda
Hartlepool
United Kingdom

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Will corruption ever be eradicated?

Corruption exists in every country and every walk of life in one form or another. Very subtle in developed countries but out in the open in poor, non-democratic countries. In the latter it is often encouraged by western companies which use it to gain contracts.
What can we do to help get rid of this plague?

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Topics: corruption transparency western companies

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Martín Sanfiz Prado 50+
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TED Translator Associate

Apr 1 2011: Maybe, but it could come back easily. It's like weed.
Andrei Vorobiev 30+
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Mar 30 2011: Corruption of all kinds can't be totally eradicated. After all, it's a self-creating, self-sustaining phenomenon. However, it can be managed down to negligible levels using self-interest and greed of which we have more than enough. Altruism in this approach is useful but not necessary.

I won't expand on this here, you can read more at CorruptionManagement.com. Disclaimer: I'm a partner in that venture.
Julie Ann 10+
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Mar 30 2011: Not as long as there is greed, a human failing.
- Sargis B.
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  Mar 30 2011: Greed is based on a false assumption that everything is limited, as well as primarily the monetary and totally bull shit economic system we have going which isn't "economic" at all.
lynn eschbach 30+
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Mar 29 2011: No. Vigilance will be required until the end of time.
Sargis B.
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Mar 29 2011: Most corruption starts and ends with money. Get rid of it? Watch how the dynamics of our world changes quite automatically. Now that's what I call a revolution. This economy and this corporate ecosystem we have going isn't going to last forever, especially with our world getting damaged and destroyed in such an increasingly rapid pace. Eventually, we will all hit a dead end and have no choice but to change our ways. Money truly is at the core of most, if not ALL of our problems. The whole reason this current monetary/economic system exists in the first place is because in the past, we thought that resources were limited. Today, science proves how wrong we were. Resources weren't limited. Our knowledge of putting them to proper use is what was limited and with proper use today, we can have a nearly infinite source of energy, food, and anything else we need. There is no reason or incentive today for money to exist! We need to realize this asap.

Corruption will be eradicated when we wake up and realize that we are the ones who fuel and allow it to exist! We never blame ourselves. Have you noticed that? We always try to find someone else to blame, which is why these so-called leaders give us someone to blame because that's exactly what we want. Just some figure to spit on. That'll suffice. Put the smile back on our faces. WE allow this shit to continue to go on. WE allow the corrupt to destroy us and our world thanks to our complacency and fear of doing anything besides sitting on our asses and watching color TV. If the government issues a law that could potentially harm our entire world, people just shake their heads and babble about it with others. But if the government even hinted about a law that could prevent people from watching TV, hell would break loose. And then we talk about corruption lol. I think we need more mirrors.......

Shit happens because we allow it to happen.
Alejandro Rodriguez
- 0
Mar 29 2011: Who's to say what corruption is? The taking advantage of others for personal gain is not complex enough to comprehend the full grasp of the human concept when going into what may be seen as a greedy move by some, and helpful to others. Although some may be seen as tyrants for having luxuries while the people under them cannot even afford food, maybe that person would have considered their earnings as fully gained by working hard and striving for what they achieved. Simply changing a system would not be useful, as different people have different levels of fair due to the individualistic mindset of the human race.
Harald Jezek 50+
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Associate

Mar 29 2011: Funny, I asked myself this question already many times.
My conclusion is, that corruption will not be erradicated as long as there is somebody gaining something from it.
And let's not forget, corruption is not only about governments and companies. Corruption exists at any level of life.
- Lucas Avelleda 500+
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  TED Translator TEDx Organizer
  
  Mar 29 2011: I think what Steven Levitt wrote on Freakonomics reflects what you said, and I agree: "Cheating is a primordial economic act: getting more for less. So it isn't just the boldface names - inside-trading CEOs and pill popping ballplayer and perk-abusing politicians - who cheat. It is the waitress who pockets her tips instead of pooling them. It is the Wal-Mart payroll manager who goes into the computer and shaves his employees's hours to make his own performance look better. It is the third grader who, worried about not making in to the fourth grade, copies test answers from the kid sitting next to him"
  As long as we cheat, corruption will not be erradicated at any level of life, so we need to ask if it is possible to stop cheating. If it's human nature, I think corruption will never be erradicated, however I'm not sure if it is or not. What do you guys think?
  - Andrei Vorobiev 30+
    
    0
    Mar 30 2011: Yeah, give up Lucas :-) If we follow this line of thought, we might as well disband the anti-fraud police and retire all accountants and especially auditors.As I said above (or now it might be below?) - we can manage all sorts of corruption to negligible levels. Oddly, it doesn't need new money or more watchdogs.
    
    Andrei Vorobiev
    CorruptionManagement.com
Gene Davis III
- 0
Mar 28 2011: Very little as the world economy exists today. As long as capitalism or economies in general for that matter exist, so will the misuse of position and capital to elicit personal or ideological gain. Corruption isn't so much the problem as it is a guaranteed, and arguably necessitated aspect of any form of barter or trade. As unrealistic as it may sound, lowering demand for trade seems to be a logical means of negating the need for creating an unfair market advantage. Therefore, it would serve to reason that some means of production, any means, for individuals to produce usable goods not for trade, but for personal consumption would serve to reduce corruption more than any direct means of intervention. If people have what they need already, nobody will be interested in coming to give local leaders or officials dirty money to let companies or countries sell things to people that they won't buy because they don't need. In short, addressing the manufacturing of necessity and the reduction or outright removal of the means of production of the common individual is a good place to start.
- Andrei Vorobiev 30+
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  Mar 30 2011: I understand the logic but have to disagree. As Soviet prosecutor I was fighting with corrupt crooks who didn't own the means of production - the people did. Introduction of capitalism in the former USSR brought more malfeasance, but of different kind. Now nearly all believe that they were duped in the nineties - even many crooks themselves, for there were still bigger crooks who got away with more billions in stolen property.
  
  In general, there is a place for the market, marketing and private ownership - it (as well as government) simply needs to have different shape, allowing for more responsible and effective democracy, with its checks and balances.
  Andrei Vorobiev CorruptionManagement.com