A while ago, I wrote a post about corruption. (http://jyothsna-viewofworld.blogspot.in/2013/04/corruption-other-side-hence-it-happened.html) In fact the post was never about corruption. It was about cheating in examinations in college, in PG to be specific. I still don't understand if I was being a self righteous prick or was actually being reasonable. But more than the pervasive copying it was the responses that were so weird. These people were friends of mine with hearts and mind in more or less the right place. But everyone had some sort of explanation. I trust that none of them would speak about corruption in government in the same was as they spoke about copying in class. They wouldn't let anyone off that easily; but maybe they would let themselves off easy. It is not a big deal the education system with its grades is screwed up any way, but wait aren't you contributing to the screw up?
I am not an ideal student. I'm not proud of it, but it is true. I skip lectures and I'm not punctual to the ones I attend. I spare myself the tough preparation and only aim at mediocrity. Hell, sometimes I don't even feel sorry about it. In my first term we had Micro Economics taught by this prof who took pleasure in reminding us that we sucked at it. At the end of the term and through the quizzes in between we found that he repeats previous years' papers. We had access to the papers as well and so most of the batch started referring to them. Although I was a bit scared and sceptical, I was still managing with the text and slides. Come results day, the grade was not so good. Not only because I was exceptionally good at it, but partly due to my impeccable attendance record and maybe because I did not refer to the previous papers. I couldn't do it; I thought it was just plain wrong, to know the questions before an exam.
In another term we had Macro Economics, for which I diligently opened the previous papers and went through them. I did the same for Agri and a couple of other courses. By this time, I reasoned myself that everyone in the batch had equal access to the papers and so we were prepared on an equal ground.
Maybe a day shall come, when I will be in a bad position financially and a lucrative deal with unethical edges would be available.What would you expect of me; If I could rationalize my ethics for simple matter of grades in a course? Even if I managed to resist this, what if a family member was sick? What if-?
All of this came up again while reading this article. (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/Harsh_Mander/barefoot-harsh-mander-writes-about-corruption-public-service-and-why-honesty-is-no-longer-considered-a-virtue-in-the-real-world/article6344973.ece)
By all means we oppose corruption, in its most frequent form bribery. But what about the use of resources for personal use, what about working without exchanging favours? Do you let it off easily?
Slowly, Nepotism has become so conspicuous that it is now mainstream. Spare the 100Cr deals of Raja, Y.S.Jagan those are most certainly unacceptable; but not the personal favours I pull for my friends and relatives during interviews.
Once again,
"If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” – Carl Sagan
Who is the bamboozled and who is the charlatan? Isn’t it both you
blaming the other one?
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