Power Corrupts!

When Lord Acton said- Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely- the old gent knew what he was talking about.
Does a position of great responsibility and power vest you with the right to take law into your own hands, even when you feel, your actions are for the larger good? Names like Satyam, ENRON & Parmalat scream out in anguish the follies and ethical failures of their top brass. In all instances, top executives from these organizations, while lining their own pockets, had little remorse for what they had done. Why ? Hadn't they slogged & sweated blood to set up the organization? Who was the law to interfere if they took a few short cuts. Arrogance of the powerful and an inability to see right from wrong are dangerous habits, when they reside in the powerful and decision makers.
Look at the following story.... With the curtains rapidly dropping on World War 2, the Nazi's were desperate to clear their concentration camps ( to hide evidence) where all anti socials ( as deemed by Adolf Hitler ), including Jews, Gypsies, Communists and Homosexual's were held prisoner. One such infamous camp was Auschwitz, in Poland. In clearing the camp, a group of women prisoners, on a long march, were sheltered in an old church for the night.As luck would have it, the church was bombed in the night and caught fire. What do you think happened to the 300women prisoners, in the church? Two hundred and ninety nine perished in the inferno ! Why could their guards, not let them out? A guard later said, that they were 'guards' and could not let the prisoners 'escape' from the church by letting them out, so they allowed them to burn! It is this kind of perverse logic that is dangerous and demonic. The top brass of Satyam, ENRON & Parmalat, are either dead or cooling their heels in prison. Just reward for their sins, but what about the innocent share holders and employees whose lives that they have destroyed, in pursuit of their greed.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hGvQtumNAY )

Follow the link to see an enthralling courtroom drama where....... Col. Nathan Jessop,is commander, of an elite group of marines, on Guantanamo Bay,off Cuba. He orders a banned disciplinary procedure, called the 'Code Red' on one of his marines ( Private Santiago ) to punish him, for slackness and breaking the chain of command. In the process, the marine dies ( a rag is stuffed down his throat & he is gagged, causing him to suffocate) & the marines buddies who were part of the 'Code Red' are charged with murder as the powerful and well connected Colonel, denies that he gave the order.The Colonel is finally cornered ( by a brilliant Lt. Kafee, played by a young Tom Cruise, who knows that the egoistic Colonel will self destruct if provoked), his arrogance gives him away and he faces a court martial.

Why does the Colonel order the 'Code Red'? Because he believes that he is the man on the spot and reserves the right to bend rules as he does a job more important than those that others do. Sheer arrogance! What about the troopers who are accused of murder, for following orders? Plain bad luck.........

When Ramalinga Raju was jailed, there was a school of thought which said that he should be treated 'kindly' as he had done a lot of good work, by providing jobs for many Indian's. Hitler provided a great many jobs in Germany, by mobilizing his nation for war and building the autobahns. Does that cut any ice with the six million Jews he murdered or people of the nations that he destroyed by following the diktat's of a crazed mind? I do not think so............

Ethics and morality are not words that exist only for the powerless and poor.It would do us good to remember that every day at work and if you find your ethical values being tested I suggest you find another place to work before the corrupt, corrupt you.

I know what my young friends would say...............discipline & rules are stifling.......maybe, but they provide the bedrock for a just society & keep us from descending into chaos.

It would also do us good, on occassion, to pause & reflect where we are heading......