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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONORWhere corruption flourishes, honor perishesWhen dishonor is admired,
integrity has
expired
Graduate SchoolLecture Series on
Accountability and GovernanceManila, Philippines - August 18,
2010
James P. Wesberry, Jr.
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Preface
The definition of Wisdom
Magandang hapon
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Faith in Godis the
definition of Wisdom
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Integrity is telling myself the truth and Honesty is telling
the truth to other people.
Spencer Johnson
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Fading Honor…..
“Honor” is an endangered word…a devalued verbal currency.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
The anonymity of the megacity has relegated honor to the garbage heap of history. Personal invisibility within the mass of humanity has obviated the need to be honorable or even honest. Who cares what others think?
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Choose a good reputation over great riches; being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold.
- Proverbs 22:1
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Simultaneously with the diminishing
importance of honor
its meaning is being diluted into
n o t h i n g n e s s
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Honor, though not yet dead, like the proverbial old soldier of the ballad…
is just fading away
Ballad: Old Soldiers Never Die ----
There is an old cookhouse, far far away Where we get pork and beans, three times a day.
Beefsteak we never see, damn-all sugar for our tea And we are gradually fading away.
Old soldiers never die, Never die, never die, Old soldiers never die They just fade away.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud
- Sophocles
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
It is best to live with honor for just a day than with dishonor for many decades - Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Indian Spiritual Leader
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
•Honorificabilitudinitatibus •Honorificabilitudinity•Honorableness•Honorability•Honorable•Honoree•Hon.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
•Is HONOR fading away too?•Will it become obsolete?•Do we, as individuals, deserve to be honored?•Do our parents and families deserve to be honored?•Does our country deserve to be honored?•Does it make any difference anymore?•If honor fades away, what will replace it?
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
What is an Honorable Man? (1)
•An honorable man is one who deserves honor. He deserves honor because of his character.•A man whose children look up to him as an example of a great father deserves honor.•A man whose wife can respect and love him for his integrity, honesty, and faithfulness deserves honor.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
What is an Honorable Man? (2)
•A man whose family and friends respect him for his decency and goodness deserves honor.•A man who holds the intent to live the best life he can, deserves honor.•A man who dedicates his life to making the world a better place, deserves honor.•Honorable men are those whose lives inspire us, enrich our world, and make the planet better by being here.
- Jennifer Jones
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
A person is not given integrity.
It results from the relentless pursuit of honesty at all times
-author unknown
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Integrity + Honesty + Accountability + Ethics + Credibility
= HONORABILITY
Corruption + Fraud + Bribery + Irresponsibility + Inveracity
= DISHONOR
The Character Equations
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
• It is no longer always a disgrace, blemish or stigma to be corrupt, dishonest or dishonorable.
• Contempt for formerly high standards is now often worn as an ornament of pride, rather than a blemish of shame.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Jose Marti, Cuban Patriot
SHAME must be made
fashionable
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
In the Orwellian “Newspeak” of 2010:
DISGRACEFUL ACTS ARE HONORABLE
CORRUPTION IS OPPORTUNITY
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
The pollution of the human character is a
far worse danger than environmental
contamination or global warming
TODAY
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Since an intelligence common to us all makes things known to us and formulates them in our minds, honorable actions are ascribed by us to virtue, and dishonorable actions to vice; and only a madman would conclude that these judgments are matters of opinion, and not fixed by nature.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
I hope that I shall always possess Firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider
the most enviable of all titles, the character of an
Honest ManGEORGE WASHINGTON
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Some short snapshots of corrupt practices in Georgia at mid-2oth Century
• A powerful and despotic County Judge also owned a business that sold his own county more gasoline that all its vehicles and equipment could possibly have used in one whole year. He became the first and only judge impeached, convicted and disbarred in the state.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
• Every single county official in a certain county but one was found by an audit involved in some means of using their office for personal gain. The one honest official, a few years later while serving as prosecutor of bootleggers was blown to bits in his driveway by a bomb attached to his auto ignition.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
• A County Commissioner contracted his own construction company with state funds to build roads in his own county. Upon exposure in an audit he was driven from office and convicted only to be freed by a corrupt judge. Several years later he was reelected by a forgiving electorate.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
• A tractor dealer created scores of fictitious companies to bid against each other on state procurements where through collusion with Assistant State Purchasing Officer no other companies received requests to bid. Finally he turned state's evidence reluctantly but never admitted guilt though hundreds of documents signed by him bidding against himself were proven. He served a limited prison term.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
• The Governor's brother received monthly checks from major state supplier. He was indicted, tried and found not guilty through the brilliance of an astute defense lawyer before a gullible jury. He later was elected to the State Legislature.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
• Numerous officials enriched themselves legally by buying undeveloped property at intersections where major highways were to be constructed.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
• Tax collection administrators covered up thefts by a colleague who when proven guilty took drugs to try to trick a polygraph test.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
• Vote tally trickery, legal shenanigans and lock changes on the Capitol Building’s doors resulted in the state actually having simultaneously three governors instead of one for several weeks.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
• Election law rigging made one rural voter’s ballot worth more than four city dwellers votes over many decades.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
•Dead people were so well organized in one county that they voted in alphabetical order in state elections. (One State Senator jokingly introduced a bill to prohibit the deceased from voting after they had been dead for two years).
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Swimming in Fertilizer
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Rolling in Toilet Paper
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
If the chief party, whether it be the people, or the army, or the nobility, which you think most useful and of most consequence to you for the conservation of your dignity, be corrupt, you must follow their humor and indulge them,
and in that case honesty and virtue are pernicious.
- Machiavelli
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Seen too oft, familiar with her face, we first endure, then pity,
then embrace. ---Alexander Pope
Vice and Corruption
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
KLEPTOCRACY
Government by thieves
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Kleptofungus
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Integrity and honorability constitute the real
Kleptofungicide
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
To accountability we must add integrity, to integrity we must add honesty, to honesty we must add ethical conduct and to ethical conduct we must add credibility through truthfulness and
transparency.
Then we will merit honor…and we must not let honor fade away.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Concluding remarks from a recent study (1)
“The level of corruption in the Philippines…failed to show significant improvement despite decades-long struggle to curb corruption through various laws and policies. Deeply entrenched personalistic politics is an obstacle to reform efforts. Another reason is turf war between present and previous incumbent politicians. The new administration tends to abandon programs initiated by the previous administration…wasting incremental success achieved by the previous government…
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Concluding remarks from a recent study (2)
The Neo-Patrimonial System (using state resources to secure loyalty in the general population) is sustained by commonly seen features in developing countries, particularly ethno-linguistic fractionalization, absence of democracy and accountability and economic inequality…productive forces have to learn to operate within this system, while keeping a firm long-term goal of creating a system which will value integrity and dignity much more than personal and material gains from political power.”
– From Corruption and Development, Revisited, Jenny D. Balboa and Shinji Takenaka, Philippine Institute of Development Studies, June, 2010
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EXTRACTS FROM BENIGNO S. AQUINO IIIPLATFORM of GOVERNMENT
• Corruption robs our children of their protection, nutrition and education.
• Corruption destroys our families and communities.• Corruption steals from our farmers and workers.• Corruption deters businessmen from investing in our
economy.• This has eroded our spirit as individuals, as
communities, as a people.• We have lost trust in the democratic institutions we so
courageously re-established after the dictatorship…• We have ceased to depend on the patriotism and civic
engagement that used to animate many of our efforts…• Our moral faculties as a people have been paralyzed.
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EXTRACTS FROM BENIGNO S. AQUINO III
PLATFORM of GOVERNMENT
The Vision for the Philippines A country with…
• 1. A re-awakened sense of right and wrong, through the living examples of our highest leaders…
• 3. A collective belief that doing the right thing does not only make sense morally, but translates into economic value as well;
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
1 LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?2 He whose walk is blameless
and who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from his heart
3 and has no slander on his tongue,
who does his neighbor no wrong
and casts no slur on his fellowman,
Psalm 15
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
4 who despises a vile man but honors those who
fear the LORD, who keeps his oath
even when it hurts,5 who lends his money
without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.
Psalm 15
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
An honest man
is the most
noble work of
God .
Alexander Pope
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Post Script: Two unforgettable corruption cases
The case of Vice Presidential larceny of the sacred cow dung.
The case of the public official who stole a piece of the moon.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Sacred cow dung encased in gold
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
The goal of every culture is to decay through over-civilization; the factors of decadence,—luxury, skepticism, weariness and superstition,—are constant. The civilization of one epoch becomes the manure of the next.
- Cyril Connolly (1903–1974), British critic
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Retuning the stolen piece of the moon.
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
Corruption is nature's way of restoring our faith in
Democracy - Peter Ustinov
"They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent."
- Daniel 6:4
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INTEGRITY AND HONOR,
CORRUPTION AND DISHONOR
Jim WesberryUniversity of the East
Manila, August 18, 2010
God Bless the Philippines
God Bless You
Thank You
Jim &
Lea
Te x t a n d P o w e r P o i n t s a t h t t p : / / w w w . j i m w e s . c o m / i d 9 8 . h t m l
Pagpalain kayo ng Dios
Mabuhay
Salamat