Before I was leaving for my holiday, a friend of mine asked me if I could pick up an electronic gadget for him, as it was at least 30 % cheaper abroad. I said of course why not, what’s the harm. Since the item in question was of a significant size, I asked him if it would attract custom duty and whether it would therefore be worth buying it for him.
He was shocked at my question. I was shocked at his ‘shock’. So, what the hell had I said!!! I was completely sober – it was 11 in the morning! So what could I have said?
He suggested I pay a tiny unofficial bribe and not the duty. He said that is how it works. No one pays duty! I told him to sod off!! Hey, why should I pay a bribe, why should I indulge in spreading corruption, something I stand against, and am very vocal about! That was the end of our conversation, no love lost between us.
This incident left me thinking, in fact it got me back to thinking about Anna Hazare and the anti corruption movement in India.
What my friend said or suggested points to a deep rooted cultural problem in our society. We are a society that is COLLECTIVELY MORALISTIC but sacrifice everything for INDIVIDUAL comfort, progress and pleasure.
This can be attributed to our feudalistic heritage where people had to struggle for basic essentials of life. Where the only way out was using their imagination and ingenuity. But what it has done is given social legitimacy to do anything, or sacrifice morals, for ‘small benefits’ to ensure daily survival.
We live in a society where the bribe giver is not looked down upon but the bribe taker is. Everyone wants to punish the bribe taker, but not speak of the bribe giver. We’re a society transitioning through “delusional contradiction”.
This scares me; it scares me in a big way. Today we are ready to sacrifice our morals for certain things because we tell ourselves its ok to ensure we sustain. We even tell ourselves “it’s the system”. The children of tomorrow will take it a step further.
I like the Lokpal bill, I support it and the endeavor by Team Anna. But I don’t think it is enough.
We need to cleanse society of this deep rooted moralistic malice; else our goal will always remain elusive.
