Corruption: Where does it start?

Corruption is a vice that robs the society of its moral precepts and veracity. It starts innocuously but with an evil teeth that cuts deep into the minds of those who take it as a way of life. It is operationally defined as abuse of power that is entrusted in an individual for snobbish gain.Any person who engages in corruption acts in an ultra vires manner as per the specifications of common law. Great economies in the world and developing nations suffer from this scourge, as it plunges their economic performance into Pareto inefficiency. As Goel (2010) would put it, corruption constitutes a major stumbling block to democracy in several nations in the world. This paper sheds light on what corruption entails and the manner in which it starts. The paper also seeks to illustrate the costs of corruption in any society and how it damages the moral fabrics of a nation.
Corruption is a vice that has robbed the society of its capacity. Despite all attempts and efforts directed towards curbing this menace, corruption is still rampant in the world. Skewness in resource distribution associated with corruption often challenges democracy and the rule of law in any democratic system. Misuse of public resources by few greedy individuals makes institutions and democracies lose a sense of legitimacy, transparency and self worth. For instance, corruption index in Scandinavian countries and sub-Saharan Africa challenges their governance structure and political systems. This leads to reduction in opportunity set and competitiveness in autarky and other related economic huddles (Klavan, 1993).
One of the foundations and sources of this menace is thirst for purchasing power in real and nominal income by individuals and agencies. Such mentalities and institutions are often driven by capitalism and inefficiency in resource distribution. Corruption often thrives in situations where persuasion coexist with liberalism and where decision making framework is obscure. This depletes public finance and robes the society of its social benefits and positive externalities. In private and public sector, the urge to acquire wealth pushes persons to engage in corrupt deals. These include bribery, embezzlement, patronage, graft, extortion, and cronyism (Klavan, 1993).
Failure to follow guiding principles or certain stated professional codes of ethics can also be a source of corruption. This is because persons get motivated to pursue individual interests at the expense of the welfare of the society where they belong. There exist several rules and laws that govern the conduct of persons in the society. Such tenets allow the realization of accountability and good governance in various leadership positions. When there is a deviation from such rules, the governing principles are violated and individuals become egocentric therefore promoting the evil of corruption (Goel, 2010). Once such violation is embraced by persons, individuals become dictated by their conscience hence engaging in repeated corrupt acts.
Through such avenues, illegal practices can be covered so as to portray persons to be accountable and yet their characters could be questionable. This often challenges the aspirations of a people and the goals of a country. Corruption that is spread through the media fraternity is dangerous in the sense that media is like a mirror of the society. When such a reflection is challenged in terms of ideals, then the moral and social foundations of the society become shaky (Goel, 2010).
In conclusion, corruption is a vice that should be eliminated in the society. The sources of corruption are many, starting with the human mentality and conscience. The desire to increase ones’ purchasing power and influence over time is one of the root causes of corruption. Corruption finds sway into the public and private sector through leaders who fail to observe work ethics and codes. For humanity to realize growth and to leave footprints for the nest generation, this menace should ne curbed or eliminated. This was the dream of the founding fathers of our family earth.