Corruption has been present in our lives ever since one can remember - from the first writings we have, like the Bible-. Corruption being from political corruption, "emotional"/moral corruption, economical corruption, etc. Let's also take into consideration that leading a "good life" is not necessarily being perfectly satisfied with everything around you, because all societies has its faults and holes.
Two professors, Francisco Úbeda at the University of Tennessee and Edgar Duéñez at Harvard, say that while "Moral corruption and power asymmetries are pervasive in human societies... [they] may play a role in maintaining overall societal cooperation." And, in order for society to function, cooperation is required. The same professors argue that in order to keep society functioning, there must always be the occasional shooting, bribing, illegal things in general, because in the end it'll keep us safe. What they bring hugely into consideration is that the abuse of power is the source of corruption, and argue we live in a Goldilocks situation where some abuse of power is good (for example for the police to keep people in "line"), but too much leads to the breakdown and functioning of a society. Although it keeps everyone safe, according to both professors; does it really provide society with an overall "good life", and are most people seen satisfied?Hobbes argues that it is all about our "state of nature", that we do anything to survive, and anything is moral as long as it is in your interest to survive. CS Lewis, another philosopher, argued that all humans have this moral code and that they may or may not break these codes on the basis of whether or not they have an excuse to justify themselves later. So there must be corruption in order for society to function.
It is possible to argue that corruption is actually a cover up for someone/something inefficient, disqualified, to make a situation fit in the illegal way. In the long term basis, corruption is bad for both the corrupter and the corrupted. It is easy to list the effects that corruption takes its toll on. For example, no hope for the poor, corruption increasing the gap between rich-poor, the degrading of society and one's self, becoming a material minded functioning society, less voices heard, democratic government (but not really); which all leads to a total degradation of our society. It is also possible to state that in a corrupt society, one is never truly happy, because insecurity and unhappiness will spread to everyone. According to Epicurus, rather than striving for pleasure/happiness, one should strive for lack of pain or suffering. If there is no pain, one will have no true reason to seek out pleasure and be in a state of tranquility. So, all happiness found lies within you. One's attitude towards life makes all the difference in the world. To be happy in this society, it is your duty to give - according to philosopher Peter Singer-, and it is also your duty to prevent all bad things from happening in your power. If that is true, none of us are happy in this society, as it is in our "nature" to be selfish. Sartre argues that it is all about an individual's conscience, and setting one's owns boundaries as to what is moral or immoral (which would be corruption).
Although there are roles given to people to keep us safe in this society and "okay", there are people who are extremely selfish considering politically and economically. These people's individual conscience do not agree that stealing public money for their private jets for example, is immoral. Leading a good life is possible to them - considering the economical and "stable" point of view-. However, to people who do act accordingly to their individual conscience, which says that one cannot steal, kill, lie, etc, are left in the dust by those who are corrupt and act on what Hobbes calls, their state of nature. For the corrupters who act on Hobbes' and CS Lewis' arguments, it is easier to lead a happier life in our society. However, that leads us to another question; does money mean a good life in our society?
One of your lines is something I was thrilled to see on this blog: "Corruption is bad for the corrupted and the corruptor." We didn't talk explicitly about this in class, but I think it's a compelling idea. There's a saying in English that " the jailer holds the keys to his own cell as well." There's lots of evidence that being the corruptor doesn't make one happy, so if happiness is the ultimate goal, being corrupt won't help you or anyone else get there. Very interesting idea, Isa.
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