The word Politics is singular though the letter-'s' at the end of the word suggests usage in plural number. A politician also usually thinks in the interests of self and questions 'what is in it for me?'
Possession of power becomes an addiction. A person cannot shake it off so easily. We can see in the history that many of the leaders wanted to get power in spite of the threats to their lives were faced by them. A warrior’s returning home from the war filed in the olden days was not assured but still they went to fight with the enemy forces.
What anybody can achieve when the very life is in danger in the process of the pursuit for leadership or power? But still they did it. Life is at stake and their private life loses privacy leaving real personal life to the minimum most but still a fight for the leadership is always taken up. That is why it is called addiction. The addiction is so deep that it passes on to their offspring through DNA and also due to the environment in which they are brought up. It can be seen in Indian politicians’ families. A son or wife takes over if the active politician is indisposed.
When getting power becomes their aim of life and an unshakable addiction, the purpose cannot be more than personal interest. Their endeavor will always be to hold the seat and pass on orders. A word spoken or an action taken or a promise made or praising someone or ridiculing someone will only be in view of the political gain out of it.
Power without money to support is cheap and money without power is weak and vulnerable.
Power should be backed up by money so that supporters can be satisfied if buying them is a rude way of putting it. In order have sufficient funds to rule the people; it is a simple mathematic calculation that amount spent should be less than amount collected. Taxes were collected to the maximum and spent minimum on the welfare of the people. That leaves a surplus always which in the era of kings’ rule made rich treasury of the kingdom on which the king used to have total rights. They used get all the luxuries money could buy.
As the politicians do not have direct right on the treasuries at the present times they are inclined to get some cuts from the expenses made through them which are bribes or unearned commissions that are called kick backs in the modern usage.
Many of the leaders or politicians are not bothered about their life or small personal life they have but they want to have more and more money without knowing what can be done with that. In the process of it a politician forgets the calculation of a man’s need in terms of money. He wants to gather so much of money that many generations can live without having any activity to earn for living. That is where a corruption takes place.
Like kings did in olden times, a politician cannot take bribes directly in the present times because of which he needs some layers to go into the corruptive practices. The persons who pay bribes try to get it back from the work they do. That way the corruption is going into the society at different level at different scales.
A wrong thing makes it go into multiple wrong deeds to cover the foot prints leading to the corruption they resorted to.
The saying has come that a person gets caught in the crime of bribery can get away paying bribe!
Getting into the roots of bribery, corruption and wrong things to get and maintain power is not to justify their acts but to look for the remedy with which the society can be made clean and healthy as the corruption of a politician is not limited to the one who resorts to it but also creeps into the society to make many others in the society to turn corrupt.
We will continue the discussion….
-SriJa
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Related Article:- Politics And Corruption
