While natural human
evolution has slowed, technological evolution is accelerating - everything that
has market appeal receives investments and thrives, while useless items are
merely shelved. Unfortunately it has not happened in politics. With regard to
public administration, it seems that our politicians do not have the slightest
idea of how to evolve, and continue acting like in the days of Ancient Greece
and Rome.
Leia este artigo em Português
Leia este artigo em Português
Here in São Paulo we
are living a curious situation, after the increases of the IPTU (property tax)
barred by court decisions, the mayor of São Paulo, Fernando Haddad (PT) still
wants to appeal in court. On the other hand we see a study conducted by the
Department of Competitiveness and Technology (Decomtec) Fiesp (Federation of
Industries of São Paulo), which showed that the economic and social damage caused
by corruption in Brazil reaches R$ 69 billion dollars per year.
Does Mayor Haddad not
realize that instead of deciding by increased IPTU, he should combat
corruption?
Besides having more
money in the public treasury, the mayor would be applauded for doing something
that no one else did and would certainly be reelected with the highest approval
rating ever seen.
We all know that
cities like Rio de Janeiro, Recife, São Paulo are full of cars, with little or
no investment in public transport because of the suspect relation of automotive
companies and governments. We all know that municipalities allows the emergence
of 'favelas' because corrupt politicians turned a blind eye to the irregular
possession and construction of houses in exchange for votes. All this must
stop.
Recently I’ve been in
Denmark, (I felt envious as Hell!) before I landed at the Copenhagen Airport,
the Organisation of Developed Countries OECD had just declared Denmark as the
happiest place on earth. The country also consistently is being ranked either
zero or the least corrupt country in the world. As Brazil ranks 72nd out of 178
countries surveyed.
Fighting corruption
has long been a high priority for Nordic countries and for the international
development cooperation.
A change is needed –
politicians believe me, this will be only way to earn our votes from now on.
Let’s understand our
enemy
Political corruption
is the use of power by government officials for illegitimate private gain. An
illegal act by an officeholder constitutes political corruption only if the act
is directly related to their official duties, is done under color of law or
involves trading in influence.
Forms of corruption
vary, but include bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, patronage, graft, and
embezzlement. Corruption may facilitate criminal enterprise such as drug
trafficking, money laundering, and human trafficking, though is not restricted
to these activities. I preach the politics of post-scarcity http://postscarcityblog.blogspot.com.br
, but even before thinking in semi-fictional terms, we need to moralize what is
already going very badly.
Less corruption - more
happiness
If you were living in
a place with no corruption, you would realize that everything works better;
taxes are channeled to where it really should be. You do not need to pay a
supplemental health plan because the state already has the perfect one. You also do not need to pay a supplementary pension
plan for the same reason.
Your citizenship
increases because besides you are a better-educated man (the money actually went
to the school and education), you would realize that the squares, streets and
avenues are more beautiful and functional, (the money that should be used to
beautify the square was not diverted) and you start feeling proud of belonging
to that city. I should remark that you must be a superior ‘Paulistano’, as I
am, to be proud of São Paulo in the situation that it stands today.
An interesting report
made by a reform activist tells what we can do reverse this trend:
1 - First and basic
Directive - Taxpayers' money should never be used to pay for individual benefits,
one must be aware that this attitude is immoral and shameful;
2 - The non-payment of
salaries for the positions such as municipal councilors, State and Federal
Representatives;
3 - Full transparency
in the accounts of all political activities through Internet sites, audited by
impartial companies;
4 - Hearings, Bids,
votes and important meetings should be transmitted in real time by public TV
stations;
5 - The taxpayer
should have the same rights and obligations of shareholders in a corporation;
6 - The representative
of the people should act as such, give all the satisfactions of what makes even
when not requested to do so;
Less Criminals - more
Peace
Our present methods of
dealing with criminals have not made society safer and crime-free, rather they
have made the problems worse.
Once we ended the
corruption, it is much more easy to re-socialize the criminals (including the
corrupt politicians who were arrested). In a criminal justice system free from
corruption, the inmate realizes that he has a chance to be truly accepted in
fair society.
A leading American
prison reform activist tells what we can do reverse this trend:
1 - Learn to recognize
the influence of socially sanctioned hatred;
2 - Make drugs a
public health problem instead of a criminal justice problem;
3 - Separate violent
and nonviolent offenders right from the start;
4 - Regain compassion
and respect for those who wrong us;
5 - Allow for
transformation, not merely rehabilitation;
6 - Join and support the
restorative justice movement;
7 - Take the issue of crime
and punishment personally;
We have everything we
need to live in a less corrupt and happier society!!
