Minimization of Wants Will Not Lead to Reduced Corruption
Good morning everyone. The year 2011 is already being called the ‘year of scams’. Almost daily, we hear news of cases of money laundering, embezzlement, nepotism, fraud etc involving people who occupy the highest tenets of power and are ironically the representatives of the dreams of the people. Today corruption is to say the least, an acute problem, which almost every citizen, poor or rich suffers from.
Today’s motion that states – ‘Minimization of human wants is the only way to reduce corruption’. However, I strongly oppose the motion.
Firstly, we must be realistic. How can human wants be reduced? Every human, be it the poorest of the poor or even the billionaire be induced to curb their desires? This is a fundamental characteristic of human nature, it is because of this attribute of human temperament that subjects like Economics exist. I would like to give you a 2 examples to prove this. India’s Public Distribution System or the PDS is a method of distributing essential commodities to a large number of people through a network of FPS on a recurring basis. This system is riddled with problems. Due to shortage of resources people find it virtually impossible to get whatever little supplies reach these ration shops. Now I would like to ask all of you this simple question- A bonded laborer who earns roughly Rs 50 a day also wants to eat at least one square meal a day for which he is solely dependent on the PDS. Since the shop that provides him with these resources is patronized by the local politician he is asked for an extra Rs 5 for say a kg of wheat. Unfortunately this man is forced to pay this extra sum as without food, how can he survive. This is a simple example of corruption. BUT PLEASE TELL ME THIS, CAN THIS POOR MAN BE ASKED OR BE FORCED TO REDUCE HIS DEMANDS?. Similarly, top generals in the Indian Army own multiple plots of land in different locations but inspite of that why do they buy small flats in the Adarsh Housing Soc ?. The answer is simple-
Today’s motion that states – ‘Minimization of human wants is the only way to reduce corruption’. However, I strongly oppose the motion.
Firstly, we must be realistic. How can human wants be reduced? Every human, be it the poorest of the poor or even the billionaire be induced to curb their desires? This is a fundamental characteristic of human nature, it is because of this attribute of human temperament that subjects like Economics exist. I would like to give you a 2 examples to prove this. India’s Public Distribution System or the PDS is a method of distributing essential commodities to a large number of people through a network of FPS on a recurring basis. This system is riddled with problems. Due to shortage of resources people find it virtually impossible to get whatever little supplies reach these ration shops. Now I would like to ask all of you this simple question- A bonded laborer who earns roughly Rs 50 a day also wants to eat at least one square meal a day for which he is solely dependent on the PDS. Since the shop that provides him with these resources is patronized by the local politician he is asked for an extra Rs 5 for say a kg of wheat. Unfortunately this man is forced to pay this extra sum as without food, how can he survive. This is a simple example of corruption. BUT PLEASE TELL ME THIS, CAN THIS POOR MAN BE ASKED OR BE FORCED TO REDUCE HIS DEMANDS?. Similarly, top generals in the Indian Army own multiple plots of land in different locations but inspite of that why do they buy small flats in the Adarsh Housing Soc ?. The answer is simple-