[afro-nets] Food for a thought to be respected (3)

[George Kent <kent@hawaii.edu>]

Food for a thought to be respected (3)
--------------------------------------

A few thoughts...


On Dec 22, 2005, at 10:50 PM, Kris Dev wrote:

 > Food for a thought to be respected (2)
 > --------------------------------------
 >
 > Dear Claudio,
 >
 > Thanks for the post. I am reproducing a post I had made earlier
 > on Corruption and Democracy. This may be relevant in the context
 > of what is stated here:
 >
 > Corruption has only been on the increase in geometric propor-
 > tions.

(gk) What evidence is there for this?


 > The awareness to minimise / eliminate corruption has been
 > on the increase right from President, Prime Minister, Governors,
 > Judges, Vigilance Commissioners, Parliamentarians, etc.
 >
 > But hardly anything tangible is being done to strike at the root
 > cause of corruption. Instead, whatever we are trying to do is
 > cosmetic only. We all have a penchant desire for shortcuts and
 > get-rich-quick techniques. When our basic needs are met, greed
 > takes over and we want to accumulate more and more assets. We
 > are ready to tolerate any level of corruption, as a way of
 > life!! Funny indeed!!

(gk) The anti-corruption work done by Transparency Interna-
tional, Tiri, your own organization and others like it is very
good and, I think, deserves acknowledgment and respect. This is
one of those areas in which it is nongovernmental organizations
that will have to take the lead.

 > The one and only way corruption can be minimized is by banning
 > currency circulation, and making all transactions of all indi-
 > viduals and organizations, transparent through genuine bank
 > transfers using bio-metric linked debit cards. By this anyone
 > can see transparently all the dealings of all individuals, busi-
 > ness, political parties, etc. and any wrong can be quickly seen
 > by the public and reversed.

(gk) I never trust people who say their favorite way of dealing
with an issue is the ONLY way to deal with it. Making such ex-
travagant claims immediately undermines one's credibility, so it
is not wise to make such claims. However, I am fully in favor of
pressing for more transparency in all sorts of transactions.

Aloha, George


--
Professor George Kent
Department of Political Science
University of Hawai'i
Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822, USA
Tel: +1-808-396-9422
Cell:+1-808-389-9422
Fax: +1-808-956-6877
mailto:kent@hawaii.edu
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Skype ID: geokent

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