Corruption

Corruption. Corruption as defined by many dictionaries and references is to "Destroy, Abuse, or Taint". Corruption as seen by many people present within the modern world has now become a common social norm that was once only used by the privileged and the mighty. but seeing  as how even the "common folk" have started to reap the benefits of corruption be it social, ethical, political, financial, and moral. back in the day, when corruption used to be carried out in a manner as how our elders would describe it as "doing something so secretive that the right hand wouldn't know the actions carried out by the left". as i was once reading somewhere that corruption is the most virulent when the very existence of society and faith is threatened. As the older the systems that once were there to protect us from corruption get the more society and our ethical values get in the way of our process of solving the social barriers that plague us everyday. but corruption is something as mentioned above can and is applied within various departments of mankind's everyday endeavors. but the one i would like to focus on and share my thoughts about is the corruption of money and government system.

"a government, for protecting business only, is but a carcass, and soon falls by its own corruption and decay" - Amos Bronson Alcott, American Reformer, Teacher and Philosopher (1799-1888)

if thought about and given proper attention, we all claim that governments are corrupt and that they corrupt, but having seen and properly and carefully thought out, I say "money" corrupts. not money (banknotes or medium of exchange) but the idea of money. the fact that everything has a price on its head or can be bought. with the financial pillars of society and this world slowly crumbling away at the costs and consequences of unstable interest rates, poor financial planning, flawed economic projections and assumptions, poorly designed and outdated money mechanisms, inadequately trained and overconfident individuals who insult the general public by using large and obscure words that make no sense to either themselves or the masses just so they can escape the brutal truth that "sooner or later you WILL be eliminated from the financial food chain and with guarantee ask yourself what happened and where did you go wrong despite the fact that you planned and took action accordingly to avoid the very situation you will inevitably face". Governments are responsible to ensure that these problems as such do not occur  and that the general individual who through hard work and taxpaying has made sure he is secure does not end up as the individual who gave everything with nothing to show.But due to the fact that the entire judicial system if thought of properly is just a layer by layer is nothing but a gigantic heap of over-composed bureaucracies that make just as much sense to us as Steven Hawkings research paper on the cosmos. The more "Money" or "financial control" that an individual has, the easier these "bureaucracies" become to overcome. A very smart man once said:

 “In any country where talent and virtue produce no advancement, money will be the national god. Its inhabitants will either have to possess money or make others believe that they do. Wealth will be the highest virtue, poverty the greatest vice. Those who have money will display it in every imaginable way. If their ostentation does not exceed their fortune, all will be well. But if their ostentation does exceed their fortune they will ruin themselves. In such a country, the greatest fortunes will vanish in the twinkling of an eye. Those who don't have money will ruin themselves with vain efforts to conceal their poverty. That is one kind of affluence: the outward sign of wealth for a small number, the mask of poverty for the majority, and a source of corruption for all.” – Denis Diderot, French man of letters and philosopher (1713-1784)

if taken into account and actually put into thought, its not the individuals or the government that is involved that is deemed corrupt, but the very existence of "Money". in the 21st century, seeing as how we are all well educated individuals we have learned to respect the notion or the social equation: "Money = Power". Any individual with an assumptive mind or comprehensive power of deduction can understand that any single or collective body with the most "Money" is surely the most "Powerful". Governments control the money supply and are therefore the foremost authority within society as the "Most Powerful" and with that notion they tend to "Corrupt" the system. this phenomenon i call "The Venom" phenomenon. this is because if anyone who has read the "Spiderman" comic books knows that Spidermans Arch-Nemesis was "Venom". Venom was an individual who was overtaken by a symbiotic being that gave Venom (Eddie Brock) supreme power to conquer all its allies. being in a symbiotic relationship, Eddie without realizing that slowly he got used to the power and started to abuse it. The Symbiote slowly without Eddie realizing started to Corrupt him and turn him into the Villain known as "Venom". i believe all governments are suffering from this phenomenon and just like how they believe that "Money" holds a symbiotic relationship with them where Money offers power and they help produce more money. but the governments don't realize is that sooner or later the more "Money" they produce, they will be overpowered by it and then will succumb to its dastardly will and in the end become the ones dependent on it instead of "Money" being the one that needs them.

If thought about carefully and with much detail, i believe that:

Money = Power
(Variable Power) = Variable Control
*mankind has its limitation and that no man can ever control power completely
Variable Control + Limited individual = Inevitable Abuse or Mismanagment of Power
Mismanagement or Abuse of Power = Corruption
therefore:
Power (Money) = Corruption
Money = Corruption

"Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely" - John Emirich Edward Dalberg Acton, Historian and Moralist (1834-1902)

Mankind wielding Money without supervision is like an infant trying to fly a plane. We do not understand the implications and consequences or the concepts of money, but instead we assume we do. In nature it is best said that when you dont understand anything it is best not to try and tame it until its power or strength is understood. sadly mankind is flawed and we have overlooked this warning and therefore we have once again suffered its consequences (Lehman Brothers Financial Crisis AKA the second great depression). our flaws are our corruption because we are always on a never ending quest to find "Unlimited Power" and unlimited power corrupts the minds of those who possess it. with money being so easily produced, there is no doubt that money is unlimited. and since money being power, and unlimited money = unlimited power, and unlimited power corrupts, it is inevitable that Corruption will entail with every frequency and from every nook and cranny and will be relentless and merciless towards us, its creators, mankind, for we are the direct flesh and bone tangible embodiment of walking corruption.