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| Renato Constantino |
Corruption is not merely a disease in our government. Corruption is a chronic malady of our society. Closely related to wrong-doing in government is the correspondingly corrupt attitude of our people towards official morality. Perhaps the most frightening sign of all is the blithe matter-of-fact acceptance of evil. We might even go so far as to say that the greatest corruption of all is this general acceptance of corruption.
WE GET WHAT WE DESERVE
Our matter-of-fact acceptance of corruption is nowhere more evident than in the conduct of our elections. We affirm as an elementary truth the proposition that only a man with money should run for office because no one will work for him unless he can give out the pesos ( and sometimes the dollars ). There is corruption too, in the idea that a vote for a candidate is a favor granted him and not an exercise of the right of choice. The validity of party platforms, the examination of a candidate’s views, and the consideration of basic issues, seldom play an important part in the voter’s choice. He is cowed down by a show of strength and wealth.
One of the pathetic pictures of corruption is that of a poor voter boasting of the money his candidates is using to buy up people’s votes. The poor man is corrupt but has nothing to show for his corruption except the vicarious thrill of being associated with wealth for a brief period. Indeed, our whole attitude towards elections is corrupt. As rabid followers of this or that candidate, we distort truth, fabricate lies, justifies and sometimes participate in all kinds of shady schemes to gain victory. We are more moral about basketball games (expecting fair refereeing and clean playing ) than about elections.
The wonder of it is that after the fever of the campaign, we complain about the quality of our leadership. That is unfair. We have no right to expect honor from dishonor, impartial statesmanship from rabid partisanship, intellectual integrity from dishonesty. Thus, in practically every election in the past, we got exactly what we wanted.
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