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When Society is
Corrupt, Is There a Solution?(*)
By Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
A while back, the Italian Parliament voted
to overturn prison sentences for politicians convicted of
receiving illegal campaign contributions in light of unprecedented
scandals. The legislation established that illegal contributions
to political campaigns were no longer crimes but simply
“civil offenses,” where those convicted would
no longer be arrested but fined.
All the nation’s parties, communists
and pro-autonomy members of the Northern League alike, joined
members of corruption-tainted parties to get the law approved.
Political contributions are no longer illegal as long as
they are used exclusively to finance election campaigns.
The new law was retroactive and benefited defendants.
The Italian law is an example that shows
how campaign finance is a very real problem that plagues
so many modern nations. Given the possibility of corruption,
it is often asked if it is licit to finance candidates.
In principle, a rich man or corporate businessman
who pays a large sum of money to finance the political campaign
of a politician with ideas similar to his own should not
be censured for it.
Indeed, a man who can financially help
elect a candidate with a platform capable of saving his
country would show great stinginess if he failed to do so.
In theory, the fact that a rich person
donates to get a poorer one elected is not dishonest. It
can even be considered an act of virtue.
Spurious agreement
This changes, however, when a businessman or banker supports,
say, a presidential candidate for reasons other than ideological
affinity. If he finances the politician’s campaign
so he can received kickbacks and business contracts later,
then their agreement is spurious. The matter becomes worse
when the kickbacks involve the companies that are not the
most cost-efficient ones. An agreement of this kind transforms
an act of idealism into a corrupt deal, and is therefore
illicit.
Furthermore, the businessman can exact
from the State a much higher price than would a competitor
who did not help elect the candidate. Thus, by charging
a disproportional price for services rendered, the deal
takes on an irrefutably dishonest nature.
Corruption
and system of government
In theory, this kind of falsification found in election
systems does not always happen. It depends on the people
involved. Honest people will work for the State and the
common good. Thus, one cannot draw from this an argument
against any form of government or against the capitalist
system. One can only infer that fraud can take place in
a democratic form of government, a claim that can also be
made against other forms of government as well.
Do ut des;
facio ut facias
The above considerations are greater or lesser variations
on a central thought that could be described by the maxim
of Roman law: Do ut des; facio ut facias (I give
you that you may give me; I do for you that you may do for
me). This arrangement can be honest or dishonest, depending
on the understanding of the parties involved.
Dishonesty can occur in any form of government,
be it democracy or monarchy. It can also occur in the capitalist
or communist system. However, it is well to recall that,
in addition to the fact that communism is intrinsically
evil, communist regimes turned their Party members, particularly
their leadership, into a nomenklatura which meant
a privileged caste in former Soviet jargon. This system
became very patent after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Degree of
public morality
Thus, the crux of this matter is not found in a particular
form of government or economic system. It lies in the degree
of public morality and particularly the behavior of public
officials. The fact is that such fraudulent deals do not
take place where people take the existence of God seriously
and really abide by His Law.
However, in countries whose people do not
seriously believe in the existence of God or fulfill His
Law, a certain number may steal and benefit from goods that
are not their own.
This is not just an economic question,
though it has an economic side. It is not just a political
matter, though it has a political side. Rather, this whole
topic is fundamentally a religious and moral one. In a place
without religion or morals, things necessarily move toward
the complete crumbling of all economic, political and social
order.
What about
repression against theft?
Obviously, every kind of illegality and immorality should
be categorically repressed. However, just punishing thieves
will never eliminate theft. This is because in a country
whose population does not obey the Ten Commandments of God’s
Law, the number of thieves tends to grow exponentially,
so to speak. If five thieves are arrested, the total thief
population is not down by five. Actually, five vacancies
have been opened, and fifty new candidates will pop up to
fill them.
The problem is fundamentally a moral one,
and as such it also involves religious considerations.
State interference
In the semi-communist legislation of many so-called non-communist
modern nations, growing restrictions on private property
are leading to a situation where fully exercising the right
of property depends on authorization from the State. Thus,
for instance, there are countries where mineral rights –
which legitimately belong to the landowner – can only
be developed with State permission. To obtain this permit,
an honest person is often forced to resort to bribes to
avoid indefinite procrastination.
In this case, he is asked to give money
to exercise a right that already is legitimately his own.
It is the State that steals when it unjustly limits the
right of property. Irregularities of this nature later extend
to political bribes of all kinds.
This behavior spreads throughout the whole
population. Those who pay bribes are seen as smart while
those who do not are regarded as fools. The “smart”
ones make money. Those who do not bribe must hold property
they are unable to use. This is the inexorable consequence
of excessive State intervention in the economy.
Thievery made
official
If even honest people are asked to pay bribes, what can
be said of the dishonest? Bribery spreads like an oil stain
on a fabric, penetrating the whole fabric of society.
At a given moment, the number of thieves
becomes so high that it is practically impossible to repress
crime without placing the whole nation in jail. The Italian
formula mentioned above is then adopted: Bribery is no longer
declared a crime but only a mere infraction subject to fines.
There are actually two fines: the bribe for the functionary
and the penalty for the State. The person is free to do
what he wants. Thievery is made official.
Thus, an ordinary thief who steals a car
can be punished with imprisonment, whereas a politician
who traffics in influence for his election campaign is neither
demoralized nor imprisoned. He just pays a fine. Since he
is receiving illicit funds, everyone comes out ahead. Everyone
steals, and stealing becomes an official custom.
The end of
private property
When thievery is thus made official, private property is
doomed to extinction. When stealing becomes generalized,
illicit advantages become the standard not only in doing
State business but any other business as well.
In such a context, hard work loses prestige
and influence, and is replaced by the practice of making
money dishonestly. Thievery becomes king of society. The
economic system, be it communist or capitalist, falls prey
to bribery. The country becomes a “robberland”
where a minority of thieves billet themselves in power.
Chaos is the
goal
This disintegration of society leads to a distorted debate
between communism and anticommunism. Communists claim that
thievery is widespread in capitalist regimes. However, the
situation in Eastern European countries emerging from communism
shows that in a communist regime, thievery and bribery was
generally, if not officially, established. Thus, the public
is confused by these mutual accusations of thievery and
conclude that the world is doomed to anarchy and chaos.
In a regime where thievery becomes officialized,
there is no reason to dispute between capitalism and communism.
Everything becomes so fuzzy because communism becomes equivalent
to capitalism and vice versa. Everyone becomes a thief,
except for the few who still believe in God.
Laws like that approved in Italy are the
first steps toward generalizing a legal system more or less
similar to the one described above. Sooner of later, this
system will affect all nations of the world. The end result
will be the complete loss of public morality, political
composure, and social order.
What remedy
is there?
What today’s society really lacks are elites and especially
moral elites. What is missing are those elites par excellence,
where families still retain a memory of their forefathers,
still value their reputation for honesty, and still desire
to serve as models for society.
So much has been done that has concretely
ruined the prestige of true elites. If no work is done to
restore them, nothing can be done.
In the name of favoring the more modest
classes, society has become increasingly egalitarian. This
led to the progressive crushing of authentic elites and
the gradual disappearance of those structures and values
which provided the element for the genesis of authentic
culture and leadership.
Thus deprived of authentic leadership,
society is gradually disoriented and increasingly tending
toward chaos as time goes by.
The only real
solution
One could argue that many, who rightly see the lack of religion
as the root of all evil, could begin to practice religion
and thus slowly eliminate corruption. However, the fact
is that many of these same people will not take a leading
role in spreading religion because they see that insisting
on an atmosphere of austerity and moral severity would oblige
them to change their own way of life.
These people are comparable to that of
certain gamblers. They will agree that illegal gambling
is harmful to the welfare of the country. However, they
still gamble because they do not wish to change their ways.
Divine grace
Putting an end to the situation described above calls for
an essentially religious apostolate that attracts Divine
Grace. This apostolate, with the help of grace, must really
touch people’s minds and souls and achieve real conversion.
Such conversions would be the starting point whereby something
could be done. However, these conversions are obviously
extremely difficult in times of general immorality when
people are attached to the advantages vice brings them and
have, therefore, little propensity to abandon their bad
life.
Genuine apostles
To delve into the most obscure nooks and crannies of the
problem, a complete solution lies in finding apostles like
those described by Abbot Jean-Batiste Chautard in his famous
work, The
Soul of the Apostolate. They must be endowed with
real interior life, desirous above all to see the accomplishment
of God’s will and designs on earth as it is in heaven.
They must be apostles who draw others with their example,
move people with their word, and strive to make the laws
of the state in accordance to those of God, thus changing
people’s behavior. In short, the action of these authentic
apostles can really touch souls. If these correspond to
grace, they will convert.
And to convert, contemporary man must be
docile to the recommendation of Our Lady to mankind at Fatima
in 1917: they must pray and do penance.
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