Money-Corruption Correlation

Money and Corruption, Any Correlation?

“Labour was the first price, the original purchase - money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labour, that all wealth of the world was originally purchased.” - Adam Smith. Adam Smith was the founder of modern day capitalism and was a firm believer in allowing the market and the people to govern the economy. Smith was a firm believer in wealth and supported the idea of doing whatever it takes to get wealthy. However, what if this idea that the American economy is founded on contradicts the morals that American society is founded on? The real question is, is there a relationship between being wealthy and being corrupt? Recent studies and articles have shown that while not all wealthy people are corrupt, the very thought of being wealthy or the though of financial gain can cause people to do things they normally wouldn't do, thus making them corrupt.

Corruption is an idea that goes back to the beginning of humans. Mankind has always had aspects of corruption in society and it has grown to become part of society. Corruption is “corruption is spiritual or moral impurity or deviation from an ideal”. Corruption varies in form based on the circumstances involved. However, there are many types of corruption that are based on money. One example of a money-based corruption is bribery. If someone is bribed they are doing something that they would not do under normal circumstances but they are acting differently because there is a reward involved. Similarly there is corruption in the sense of embezzlement and extortion. Which both involve the use of money and power to get something out of someone? By its definition corruption is linked to money, however, the situations are’t always as simple as a small bribe or threat.

An Indian online magazine called MensXP released an article about the 10 most corrupt Indian politicians. All of these cases had one thing in common. They all involved the use of money by somebody with wealth. Indian politician Suresh Kalmadi was in charged of the Commonwealth Games in which he only used half the money for what its purpose was and the other half is speculate to have gone into his pocket. In another situation former Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi, was held responsible institutionalized corruption via paying money for votes in Southern India. In both these cases, and eight others listed in the article, the common factor was money. All the people listed had considerable amounts of money and can definitely be considered wealthy. In these cases they abused their power and wealth and used it to further themselves in was that would not normally be deemed moral. Everyone in the article had two things in common, money and corruption. If money were to be factored out of the equation, all that is left would be corruption, on the other hand, if corruption is factored out, all that is left would be money.

As seen with the Indian politicians, it is very common to find money-based corruption among government officials. A non-profit organization called Economy in Crisis released an article about the wealthy ruling the country. . The article compares the current economic state in America to a plutocracy in which the wealthy class rules. It also talks about how throughout the past forty years and even now, money has corrupted politicians and that those who are given positions of authority in the government are those who have money to begin with.

Two studies were done (one by Harvard and one by Doctoral student of UC Berkeley Paul Piff) that tested to see whether or not people would behave differently if they were exposed to the very possibility of gaining money.
In the study by Harvard, they gave two groups of people a set of situations. One group was offered money if they did what they were asked to and the other did not. “Participants who were merely exposed to the concept of a monetary gain were more likely to demonstrate unethical intentions, decisions, and behavior than the students in the separate controlled condition— without the possibility of a financial reward.” This study from Harvard pointed out that when money ids involved, people would do things that they normally wouldn’t, which fits the idea of corruption being a deviation from an ideal. In Piff’s research, they looked at the moral applications of people who have money and power. “You become less attuned to all of the other things that contributed to you being in the position that you’re in,” Piff said about the “advantaged” test subjects in the report, noting that the participants given the upper-hand showed sings of increased greed and a lack of empathy.” Piff’s work showed that when money is involved, people blind themselves to what they would normally think to their conscious. However, both research teams’ results do not account for all the wealthy people of Earth. There are people who do have money and yet they are charitable, philanthropic people. For example, Margaret A. Cargill (heir to the Cargill Corporation) donated $6 billion two charities. So while this research presents a correlation, it is not absolute and there are exceptions.

The idea that wealth can lead to corruption is supported by many studies and real world scenarios. However there are also many studies and real world scenarios that can provide exceptions to the idea. While it cannot be said whether or not money is an absolute cause of corruption, it can be said that money is a possible source that can lead to corruption. The studies and actual situations of money causing corruption all aim toward one point. The point that money can cause corruption, money pulls on the greedy aspect of humans and causes them to do things that are normally considered immoral.. While money can cause corruption it is man’s duty to keep the desire in check and not let life be ruled by money because if not, money can indeed lead to corruption.