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Exchangeof favors and Corruption

“Exchange of favors” or “Kwanxi” among friends, family members, and social  groups are time-honored practice of human relations and necessary social lubricants for the smooth functioning of civilization. However, direct exchange of “gifts” or explicit “quid pro quo” between otherwise unrelated persons using medium of exchange such as red envelope, sex, and/or criminal activity even murder are not only intolerable by society but also ILLEGAL. This is particularly glaring in political sphere and condemned as CORRUPTION. This is a worldwide problem in all civilizations in all history made particularly prominent by recent efforts in China to stamp out such prevalent practices. Thus, the question is “When is an exchange of favors becomes corruption? Where do you draw the line?”  One can argue that the former is a long term relationship among friends; there are no explicit  contract or  understanding or even an expectation of payback; and  definitely no “quid pro quo” . However, in political and public sectors, such distinctions  are often not sharp enough to distinguish the two kinds of behaviors. In the West,  the problem is “resolved”by passing laws which defines what are legal and illegal forms  of “exchange offavors”. Donating to campaigns, being a lobbyist, reward to retiring publicofficial with plumb private sector jobs are among the legal and acceptable form of “exchange of favors”. The “corruption” problems in China and elsewhere seem to be the fact there are no laws or not enough laws governing “the exchange of favors”. Low pay and benefit for public officials is another factor (Note: HongKong public officers are very well paid and corruption is a lesser problem as far as I know) As a result, anything goes. This coupled with human frailty creates unacceptable inequities among society members.

One should also note that the rules governing acceptable “exchange  of favors”varies among nations and cultures. For example stock trading using insider information is a criminal activity in the US but perfectly okay in China.  But as the world  and interactions among people globalize, we need to converge on a set of uniform  code of behavior in order for commerce and diplomacy to proceed smoothly.

The above are no doubt well known to social and political scientists.  I just wantto get them off my chest and urge the un-involved general public to look at “corruption” in a dispassionate and neutral objective mode.  It is just another thing any developing country and society need to pay attention to.