Ukraine still remains one of the most corrupt countries on the planet. On one hand, it’s not bad when you can steal and bribe. On the other hand, it’s sad to realize that Ukrainians still remain one of the dumbest nations on the planet, unable to organize the work of their officials and police in a way that prevents them from stealing. How can we become smarter? Are there any proven methods?
According to Robert Klitgaard, known for his research on the nature of this phenomenon, “corruption is greed plus opportunity minus control.” From this formula, it follows that to eradicate corruption, it is necessary a) to reduce opportunities for officials and b) to increase control over them. As for reducing greed, I don’t see it as possible due to human nature - we always want more.
So, the first thing is to reduce the powers of officials, and there are many ways to do so. For example, in Georgia during Saakashvili’s time, the “one-stop shop” principle was introduced (also used in other countries) to reduce the number of procedures for obtaining government documents, and therefore reduce the number of signatures they put for a bribe.
The second part of the formula requires increased control over officials, which primarily involves tightening punishments and direct punitive actions. For instance, Hong Kong is known for its idea of “presumption of guilt” for officials, where each of them is considered a thief until proven otherwise. The experience of Singapore is also indicative, where under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew anti-corruption legislation was tightened to the point that even promising a bribe was considered taking a bribe. And China is ahead of everyone - in the last ten years, they have executed more than 10,000 officials for corruption.
Analyzing the situation in Ukraine, a few years ago Saakashvili stated that the state system is currently such that “it does not allow you not to steal.” This formulation remarkably combines all three components of the formula described above: 1) officials’ salaries are meager, 2) there are many opportunities to steal, and 3) there is little control. Only the lazy and stupid will not steal.
Everything seems logical in this formula, and the solution is obvious for Ukraine, as well as for any other country: 1) increase officials’ salaries, 2) reduce their number and simplify the procedures they control, and finally 3) regularly execute violators. However, there is another important aspect that many people pay attention to - people’s attitude towards corruption. The people for whom officials exist and from whose pockets they steal.
Kakha Bendukidze, drawing analogies between cargo cults of Papua New Guinea and the consciousness of modern residents of post-Soviet territories, said that “if we want to be mature societies, we need not to receive, like manna from heaven, our rules of life, but we need to achieve them ourselves,” and then added that “to fight corruption, we need to want it strongly.” The main idea is that only we can achieve new rules of life without corruption if we want and strive for them.
In my deep conviction, the first step in this struggle should be a change in our attitude towards officials’ wealth. It often causes envy in us, when it should cause anger. We must understand that their expensive cars are primarily a sign of our foolishness. They were stolen from us, they drive through our streets, and we watch and do nothing.
Furthermore, we must change our attitude towards officials in general. It is important to understand that they are our service personnel, living on our money. We are forced to keep them close to us to organize our lives and, roughly speaking, to take out the trash and clean the streets. The head of the regional tax office or the deputy head of customs should be much less significant to us than, for example, a head chef or a supermarket director.
The new rules, as mentioned by Kaha Bendukidze, will consist of exactly such a revolution in creation: the reverent-fearful attitude towards officials will be replaced by a calm-utilitarian one. After this, all other changes will occur naturally, and corruption will turn from a universal disaster into a localized problem, as in developed countries.
Translated by ChatGPT gpt-3.5-turbo/42 on 2024-04-20 at 17:37
