Bad habits: The bribery state of mind

It’s one of modern man’s finest engineering achievements. So grand that it finds prominent space in the list of Seven Wonders of the World. The Great Wall of China – running over 21,000 kilometres, over 2,000 years old, inviting upto 70,000 visitors a day — is an overwhelming marvel. Nothing like it will ever be built again.

And it can also be the perfect example of corruption. The Wall was thought up by a Qi state Lord to keep out invaders from the north. Over time, other royals and chieftains kept construction on — thinking it was an effective tool to safeguard China from pillaging looters.

But one of the largest military erections saw immediate failure. During the first 100 years of the Wall, the Chinese were invaded three times. Villagers were unable to travel between towns for fear of robbers. But interestingly, none of the attacks were the result of a Wall-break or penetration. Instead, invaders snuck in by bribing guards and were able to just walk through the doors. The Great Wall had held, human character though... hadn’t.

History is actually brimful of stories of how civilizations and nations were destroyed or weakened because of greed. Politicians, big pharma, weapons companies you name it... there’s a lot more happening under the table than on it.

Let’s take a look at our history. The British were able to find pliable Indians as they tightened their hold on our produce. After a hard-fought Independence, we went on to sniff scams in almost all walks of life. There’s even a website called IPaidaBribe.com and the numbers headlining the webpage are startling. A total number of 81,840 reports of bribes paid, incidents across 1,071 cities and over Rs 2,800 crore spent greasing palms. It’s almost as if anything’s possible as long as there’s a currency note to hand out.

If you are now wondering how we as a species learnt to avoid obstacles using simple economics, we should first consider how we’ve been bringing up the next generation. We constantly bribe our children (chocolates, money, movies etc.) just to get them to obey us. It has become a proven parenting tactic. “Bribes are the glue that’s kept teenagers and parents connected for generations,” wrote author Gayle Forman.

Bribery even fits the definition of disease. It’s contagious, affects quality of life and rather worrying is the fact that we don’t have a cure yet. We must vaccinate our children against this evil which thwarts our best efforts. How about we start by refusing the little one chocolate in exchange for a clean cupboard? Also, the next time you get ready to pay off someone to get ahead in line, remember the Chinese. Bribery brought down the greatest wall ever built. Our already frail systems don’t stand a chance.