Will Hiking Salary Make a Corrupt Person Honest...?
This evening – on TV – I saw a politician justifying a huge salary hike for politicians – he gave the justification that giving high salaries will reduce corruption and make politicians honest.
Do you believe that increasing salaries of politicians will make them honest...?
A similar argument is made for government employees as well – it is argued that individuals are corrupt because they get low salaries – and – if salaries are increased – Hey Presto – corrupt persons will instantly turn honest – and corruption will reduce to zero.
Well – all this reminded me of my blog post based on an article on Ethics I had written 21 years ago on 1995.
DOES INCREASING SALARIES REDUCE CORRUPTION...?
Musings on Ethics
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Someone asked me:
“Will increasing salaries of government employees reduce corruption...?”
In response – I said to him:
“If you increase salaries – it will not reduce corruption – but the size of the bribe will increase...”
The honesty and integrity of a person is in no way correlated with material status.
Government Employees are paid enough salaries to live a decent standard of living.
Once a person is corrupt by nature – the dictum is:
“The Higher the Salary – The Higher the Bribe”
This has been the experience – as can be seen by the number of rich politicians and top bureaucrats involved in scams.
Moral Values have got nothing to do with the amount you earn...”
This conversation reminded me of an article I had written on PRACTICAL ETHICS 21 years ago in 1995 (based on my lecture notes when I taught BUSINESS ETHICS and my papers on ETHICS presented by me at various seminars) and posted on my blogs a number of times – in various posts and articles.
Here is an extract from the article.
This evening – on TV – I saw a politician justifying a huge salary hike for politicians – he gave the justification that giving high salaries will reduce corruption and make politicians honest.
Do you believe that increasing salaries of politicians will make them honest...?
A similar argument is made for government employees as well – it is argued that individuals are corrupt because they get low salaries – and – if salaries are increased – Hey Presto – corrupt persons will instantly turn honest – and corruption will reduce to zero.
Well – all this reminded me of my blog post based on an article on Ethics I had written 21 years ago on 1995.
DOES INCREASING SALARIES REDUCE CORRUPTION...?
Musings on Ethics
By
VIKRAM KARVE
Someone asked me:
“Will increasing salaries of government employees reduce corruption...?”
In response – I said to him:
“If you increase salaries – it will not reduce corruption – but the size of the bribe will increase...”
The honesty and integrity of a person is in no way correlated with material status.
Government Employees are paid enough salaries to live a decent standard of living.
Once a person is corrupt by nature – the dictum is:
“The Higher the Salary – The Higher the Bribe”
This has been the experience – as can be seen by the number of rich politicians and top bureaucrats involved in scams.
Moral Values have got nothing to do with the amount you earn...”
This conversation reminded me of an article I had written on PRACTICAL ETHICS 21 years ago in 1995 (based on my lecture notes when I taught BUSINESS ETHICS and my papers on ETHICS presented by me at various seminars) and posted on my blogs a number of times – in various posts and articles.
Here is an extract from the article.
STATUS/POSITION versus MORAL VALUES/ETHICAL STANDARDS
Musings
By
VIKRAM KARVE
When I joined the Navy – many of us confused “Rank, Position and Status” with “Ethical and Moral Standards”.
We young officers were naive and idealistic.
We assumed that just because an officer had been promoted to high rank – it could be ipso facto presumed that he had high moral values and ethical standards.
We were wrong in presuming this.
Soon – after seeing media reports about a number of senior military officers embroiled in scams – and observing some of our seniors indulging in unethical activities – we realized that our presumption – linking ethics and rank – was wrong – and status and position should not be confused with standards of morality.
This is true in the civilian world as well.
The honesty and integrity of a person is in no way correlated with his intellectual development – or his position in the hierarchy – or material factors like wealth, rank, seniority, status, success.
Almost every day we see news about high ranking politicians, bureaucrats, military officers and other “distinguished” persons with high status, and in top positions, getting embroiled in Scams and indulging in unethical activities.
Have you not read news about even the most intellectually gifted persons (like Vice Chancellors of Universities) getting embroiled in corrupt activities?
A quote by Alexander Orlov sums it up in a nutshell:
“Honesty and Loyalty may be often more deeply ingrained in the make-up of simple and humble people than in men of high position.
A man who was taking bribes when he was a constable does not turn honest when he becomes the Chief of Police – the only thing that changes is the size of the bribe.
Weakness of character and inability to withstand temptation remains with the man no matter how high he climbs.”
It is true – isn’t it?
A person’s Values and Ethical traits accompany a man to the highest rungs of his career.
You see so many poor persons who are honest – and you observe so many rich persons who are corrupt.
This is because – whether a person becomes corrupt or not depends on his values – and not on his needs.
Also – in today’s world – corruption has no social stigma.
A corrupt man who is rich gets more respect in society than a poor man who is honest.
That is why you must not confuse status and position with standards of morality and ethics.
An individual’s outward status has got nothing to do with his inner values.
So – increasing salaries may result in the opposite of the desired objective of reducing corruption – and – may result in increasing corruption – as exemplified by the dictum: “The Higher the Salary – The Higher the Bribe”
Dear Reader: Do you agree...?
VIKRAM KARVE
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© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
1. If you share this post, please give due credit to the author Vikram Karve
2. Please DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please DO NOT Cut/Copy/Paste this post
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Disclaimer:
All stories in this blog are a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the stories are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
Extract of my article on ETHICS written by me Vikram Karve 21 years earlier in the year 1995 and posted by me online a number of times including at urls: http://creative.sulekha.com/ethics_296512_blog and https://karve.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/practical-ethics/ and http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2012/02/honesty-integrity-and-corruption.html and http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2013/12/status-and-position-versus-moral-values.html and http://vikramwamankarve.blogspot.in/2008/12/managerial-ethics-food-for-thought.html and http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2015/12/will-increasing-salaries-reduce.html etc
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