Corruption and Politics: Rule of Law vs. Law of the Jungle

Corruption and politics are perceived to have a lot in common. Both words denote that a direct or indirect favor can be bartered in exchange for a (not always) hidden monetary payment. He who grants it is willing to ignore ethics, good judgment and the common good in order to clear the way for his “client.” The communion between in-kind or in-cash corruption and politics is not automatic. Fraud, corruption and favoritism develop like any other animal, little by little, and it feeds and becomes stronger with practice and time.

It takes some time or very little-depending on how we look at it, for a person or country to corrupt itself completely- Maybe 10-20 years? Corruption and political cynicism lead to a destructive anarchy that generally ends badly. Destructive anarchies are like hurricanes. They level everything in their paths and leave a distressing devastation behind them. At the end, those left alive who know how to rebuild can restore progress or move elsewhere, away from hurricane paths.

If we observe countries, companies, families and people, we can see if corruption and politics are on the rise or, on the contrary, if they are in the process of re-building and evolving. In the Americas, despite the obstacles they face, there are a good number of countries in permanent re-construction: Canada, U.S.A, Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay and Chile (to name a few). In those countries, the governments, communities and people are making daily efforts to do the right thing, promote merit, build institutions, create balance of power, strengthen individual liberties, punish crime, promote authority, responsibility, and disarm authoritarianism and runaway corruption.

In corrupt and authoritarian regimes, few live off their salaries. In Cuba, for example, the universal salary is $19 a month. No one can survive on that. Those that want to prosper in such an environment have to sell themselves in the black market. Prostitution is universal; people live off tips or the payment for services they do not want to provide. Individuals unfold in multiple lives. Mind, body, emotions and soul are forced to live parallel lives. Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua are all on that painful path of human fragmentation that has been observed in Cuba for 50 years. There is only one life and it is worth living as one in which body, soul, mind and emotions support each other in the achievement of greater development. That way we leave a legacy and platform on which our children can build further growth. Fragmented lives leave behind weak and porous platforms that fall before any individual and collective confrontation. That is a sad destiny we must resist with all the strength and conviction that our past and present intellectual and moral heroes have left us. Where they appear and manifest themselves, integrity and the will to do good are the only path to individual and collective redemption and vindication.

If the world is divided today, it is not between socialism and free markets or authoritarianism and democracy. The world is divided among countries were corruption rules, which are destined for failure, and countries were there is a determined fight for law, order, honesty and ethics, which are destined for development. It is no longer a choice between capitalism and communism, but between the rule of law and the law of the jungle.