Throughout ones life we will come across places and organizations that engage in corruption. All too often we look in the other direction where obvious wrong doings are involved. Doing so causes great harm to businesses, government and communities. As our nation transitions with an emerging diverse younger population along with more digital porousness of ideas there will be greater pressure to put our nation on the most strategically aligned path to performance excellence. One may go so far as to say a possible American Renaissance of ideas and technology that comes from digital era infrastructure matched with human capital development. Tackling corruption and authoritarianism is part of rejuvenating our democracy and it is incumbent on every American to encourage the most adaptable and efficient system we can create.
Let us first make a connection between the need to protect human rights and taking the wind out of authoritarianism. Fighting Corruption and Authoritarianism, while Protecting Human Rights.
Because corruption is inherently based in selfishness and lack of deeper values it relates to misusing authority to take advantage to others. Power over dynamics take precedence where power with would have led to more democratic engagement and in turn trust of institutions. Corruption strives in closed loop systems that discourages participation of non in-group stakeholders so as to benefit of a few at the expense of many. This is why democracy at its highest state is universal and inclusive.
A few quick observations:
a. Silencing criticism through intimidation, defamation of character and/or violence to minimize discovery.
b. Misuse of institutions and their resources for personal or group gain. Often this is allocation of money and resources for a small group of individuals. i.e. embedded group.
c. Creating barriers for community engagement by some members to limit access to power and/or influence. As an example, a rogue group of public officials trying to remove others who may not be accepting of corruption or the status que through pressure in order to keep loops closed.
d. Use of ideology and hyper politics to keep people divided as a method of manipulation and crowd management. We must constantly seek to be a single indivisible people.
e. There are many more examples but I just want to highlight a few. I'm sure you can come up with a few ideas of your own.
We may also find a few symptoms of corruption and/or mismanagement that could potentially indicate an issue. We might find population declining, quickly dismissing valid concerns/complaints, inability to attract investment, so on and so forth. We saw this in Detroit before the big Operation Northern Hook initiative where a collective fight against corruption led to over 130 charges which fostered helpful improvements in the city for many of the residents. Old man Detroit got up off its knees and started fighting back to reclaim its place in the global arena. While he still has work to do to revitalize his full vigor, he is on the path that hopefully someday finds a fuller benefit for residents and businesses alike. More examples at National Association of Attorneys General.
As a broad perspective we may best tackle these issues by tracing and mapping a system to ensure open feedback loops and greater civic engagement through broad based inclusion. In one example of how this works, one small town began to gain new investments, exposure, population and higher institutional trust through collective action that has exposed alleged corruption and the process of removing such cancerous elements.
I found this article because I thought it was interesting. As nations we have no place for any level of corruption at any level of government. This is why I support those institutions and people who investigate and hold to account bad behaviors (100% police and 110% civil rights.) The more we root it out, the brighter our future through engagement and effective use of resources. People can do their part and can do so by reporting, exposing, and correcting deficiencies in moral conscious and fiscal judgement. Treat each other well and expect excellence in leadership and performance. Its not specific to any city or nation. 2022 Corruption Perception Index
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