Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Fernando Solanas: Our system is inherently corrupt. The capitalist and colonialistic system (capitalism is inseperable from colonialism) are two things that the citizens of central countries of Europe, of the United States, of Southamerica don't see every day, but they get to see all their richness, the guarantees, the economial wealth which it enjoys, all those things are products of a big plurality, of a big delivery of utility, of benefits that are sent from the peripheral countries to the industrialized world. This system is inherently corrupt because it is based on individual ... and on richness. It is a system like a pyramid and not a horizontal system with a big participation of the people and of social organizations. It is a system based on the accumulation of power: economical power, from this economical power comes the construction of militarian power and of an institutional power to consolidate it. Thus our societies are all corrupt because everything is a farce, because their expressions are cynical and of total hipocracy. They are far away from serving for life, for the development of life, for the construction of a better society with better forms of social democracy, for assuring public liberties and participative democracy. The societies are far away from that, all is constructed for maintaining economical power that keeps the force and the domination of the means of communication.

by Fernando Solanas

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Fred Matser: Well, I think that the system in itself is not corrupt. The question is more, are the players in the system playing it correctly or not. If one really uses a system in a transparent way, it has less a risk to be corrupt. But, we often see, when we choose our leaders, being it in a company, being it in a democratic system or those that work in dictatorships, that when they are in the so-called power, which is leadership, where they are meant to represent other people that they don't serve the other people, that they often serve their own interests than they serve their group's interest by exclusion of orders. And I think we would, all have to sit together and see if jointly we could open the economic system up and discuss with one another the situation at hand, and address one another on each one's responsibility and try to make changes. And I think these days, where on the other hand, we have the Internet and the World Wide Web that we could create root, movements from the grassroots and address these issues and bring them to the arena of leadership. An organization like Transparency International from Germany here, led by and set up by Peter Eigen is very hard at work to disclose all the corrupt issues in many countries in the world.

by Fred Matser

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Galsan Tschinag: The course of the history of mankind up to now implies a positive answer to this question. But in my opinion our species, the Homo sapiens is only at the beginning of his evolution. One day we will become beings that will be more mature than we are now and then a fairer society system will rule over human society. That is what I hope.

by Galsan Tschinag

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Giora Feidman: Well, the word “corruption” is a sickness, a terrible sickness where still we didn't find a medicine. We go to the pharmacy, buy something, you cure it. This sickness that we call corruption, again, again, always, always, we will arrive to education, will arrive to the situation the human being still didn't understood why we exist, the meaning, the essence of existence. And, until we will not find the ways, they are not [inaudible] because there exists ways. There is offer to us to follow a process of cultivation; a spiritual grown exists like religion, any religion. The purpose is to help us to follow the way of cultivation. The result speak by themselves. Of course, something wrong but corruption should be really, should be treated because what this corruption? Corruption is somebody that exploit you. Somebody they got a position, not for himself to be in a high position; he got the position to serve society and not to abuse it. Again, corruption is a sickness as a result of misleading the personal life of a person with the practice corruption, not a question of punishment, question of conscience level.

by Giora Feidman

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Gladman Chibememe: Yeah, yeah, it’s corrupt. It’s corrupt in the sense that resources, the economic systems oppose the concentration of resources to a few people or individuals. And, in this case, it is working at the disadvantage of the majority or of the greater part of the people. And, the best way to do this is to see - to break this system to make sure that we have a situation in which we divide the power - economic power, and also we make sure that all stakeholders, as have a stake in the economic system. This should apply not only at national level, this should apply at global level, the economic power should be divided between First World, Third World countries, Africa, Asia, and Europe, America, not to have one state, one continent, dominating and continue to dominate all the time. It is - sometimes it’s annoying to find out that if and when negotiations are being taken, for example, in the CBD or in some of these international conventions, the First World countries team up against the Third World countries to try to stop Third World countries from proceeding or from pursuing policies that will allow them to benefit from their natural resources, for example, the cure for access to resources. Right now, First World countries are refusing to put in international access and benefit sharing policy that would allow local communities and African countries and developing countries to benefit from their resources. All they want is to keep the developing countries at a different disadvantaged position by making sure that there is no law that will allow them to demand to benefit from the resources that come from their country. They want free access to resources without [audio ends]

by Gladman Chibememe

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Govindaswamy Hariramamurthi: Yes, it is inherently corrupt. It has been increasingly corrupt because of the purpose of economic system is to keep the few in a position of strength. It is an issue where the economic system is part of a political system. These laws, these rules are often helping the powerful, the privileged to remain powerful. How do we go about dismantling it? I think we need to, ourselves, become strong in a way that we are able to offer an alternative where we don’t get run over by the current economic system. We are able to exist by our own abilities to produce and distribute. That is how I see it possible. Unless we are able to operate in a manner that we are able to insulate ourselves, it is not easy to dismantle it, because there are people who continue to work on this issue of keeping it in the way it functions.

by Govindaswamy Hariramamurthi

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Hans-Peter Dürr: The economic system inherently corrupt? I don't know what corrupt means. In any case it is hostile to life. It is not focused on developing the human being as such, but to strengthen the power of few people to enable them to dominate the many others better. In this sense they are not participating in the real development of life. Sustainability basically means making life livelier. It means to integrate more and more people in this evolution. Participating in this development. Economy is not corrupt in the sense that there is some kind of conspiracy but that the orientation is wrong. Taking as a standard what stresses the inanimate and reduces the living in its plurality. This leads to a powerful simplicity and not to a varied and organic diversity. But diversity is the starting point for further development of mankind to a larger unit in which mankind is more than the sum of the individual cultures, including everything and having a higher flexibility.

by Hans-Peter Dürr

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Harry Wu: Is the current economic system inherently corrupt and what is the basement, what is the ceiling? I think you have to think that the economic systems have the wealthy and healthy site and it have to be different. It is true the economic system has a problem, have to reform, have to improve it.

by Harry Wu

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Helena Norberg-Hodge: The current economic system as far as I’m concerned is definitely inherently corrupt. It is structurally corrupt and corrupting. And, in fact, I see this as good news because to change it, to dismantle it may not be as difficult as we think. As far as I’m concerned, the main way that we will change it is by raising awareness about how this system actually works, its impact on different cultures, its impact even on the wealthy -- elites in both north and south. What we will find is that this system operates by marginalizing people worldwide. We have a system that is based on distancing production and consumption, on distancing people from one another and it is also based on speeding up life in a way that is completely unsustainable. Why is this happening? It is because blindly for a long time now we have allowed our leaders from both left and right, from socialist, communist and capitalist countries to support a model of progress which meant that it is always in the public interest to support technology -- the development of technology and trade. In actual fact, we have reached a point where subsidizing businesses to use technology instead of people, subsidizing oil and supplying it at a seemingly low price, we are actually paying a very high price for it, supplying it at a low price, encouraging businesses to always use technology instead of labor has become counterproductive. We need to reverse key elements in the economy, and the first step to doing that is to have a massive education campaign. Hopefully, dropping knowledge will be part of this in a central way of getting the discussion out about why this economic system is so corrupt, how it's corrupt, how it's marginalizing the majority of human beings on the planet while destroying the planet itself. This is the first step to dismantling it.

by Helena Norberg-Hodge

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Homero Aridjis:

by Homero Aridjis

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Irina Yasina: The system is not inherently corrupt just because we have examples of countries where corruptness is very low. First of all it’s in countries of Northern Europethe case. If you just see corresponding ratings you'll agree. Usually, whether a system is corrupt ot not depends on the exactness of law formulations, the precision of formulations and the fact of respecting the law. That’s why every country can approximate to the ideal of reducing corruption to the minimal extent. Thus I don’t think that it is reasonable to reject or renounce the established system only because in some countries or places they didn’t succeed to make people respect the law which, as it turned out, had been approved by the same people. Still in Russia we have very high corruptness but we all inside of country know why it happens. It happens because there are a lot of loopholes, because laws are often written with the intention to let these loopholes. Besides, nobody is punished for breaking the law even if it is often unacceptable as said. It happens simply because there are many groups of people mostly in government, who they do not pass sentence on, and who do that in their own interests. The system is not to blame for this. People are to blame who use the system in their own interests.

by Irina Yasina

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Jerry Mander: Answertext will be available soon.

by Jerry Mander

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Jesper Green: The current economic system, if it’s inherently corrupt, I don’t think it’s inherently corrupt, I think it’s stable corrupt, if you can say it like that. I think, I think that lobbyism and small ways of bribing or corruption is taking place every day, every where, in all levels of government, government levels. I think that, I think that government officials should be bribed by their own governments to do their work, do their work, and not be underpaid, and I think it’s a problem in many countries around the world. Government officials should be paid well so they don’t have the need to get bribed, but then again if you get paid well, you’re still want to have to more, get more, rise a level, go to the next level. People are greedy, so yes, it is inherently corrupt.

by Jesper Green

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Jodie Evans: Yeah, obviously it's inherently corrupt and corrupting, which is I think more important that the way it's set up, it's, it's set up to corrupt also. And it corrupts countries, it corrupts ideas, it corrupts values. We need to move back to small economies. Taking back local power and the way to do that is to do it, to buy locally, to exchange locally, to as much as possible check out of the larger economic forces. And we see that movement arising from -- at the World Social Quorum, of how people can come together and step out of what the power, economic power structure is and create something of their own. And the more we understand how many of us are out there doing the work, how many people have figured out answers, how much we can take it locally and use the global piece as a way to learn from each other, as a way to ask questions, get answers, find new solutions, try out new things, because part of the economic power is the stagnation of no change, no innovation and no creativity.

by Jodie Evans

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

John Gage: There are no universal economic systems. There are layers and levels, local economic systems, more regional economic systems, global economic systems, all in a constant state of flux and change. Enormous amounts of wealth move through today’s financial channels. Does this system encourage corruption? Wherever there is wealth, there is an encouragement of corruption. Wherever there is power, the ability to divert wealth into channels that benefit one person, one group, one tribe, one city, one region, there is corruption, because human behavior always motivated by the attempt to make things slightly better, that motivation is easily swayed by immediate payments or bribes attempts to change how someone behaves. At the bottom level, the most evident level, the most citizen – close to every person, the closest forms of corruption to every person are the corruptions of the police, of the regulatory components of a government, of the telephone installer, of those that – the traffic policemen. Those forms of corruption generated often by a simple calculation by the person whose job it is to do the telephone installation, calculation is they are not getting paid. So, they’ll find a mechanism to support their children, it’s only human. The mechanisms that we need to alter are not the grand economic systems, they are making these systems of compensation for those that work fair, equitable, enough for those to live, eliminate the base causes that make everyone at the lowest levels, at the most – the closest levels to everyone’s life. Eliminate the incentives for them to alter their behavior by bribes and the bribes can go away. Government action is critical in this. Governments can act, governments can stop corruption. It’s not the economic system inherently that creates corruption, it’s the manipulation of the system for immediate individual benefit. Transparency can eliminate corruption.

by John Gage

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Jonathan Granoff: The world itself is inherently temporal and corrupt. Human beings are inherently inadequate. And the world is not Heaven. But to the extent that we can bring the exalted qualities of justice and caring into our economic institutions is the extent to which they're going to function and be sustainable and work. Well that's not so Utopian. If we had a different system of accounting and the bottom line of corporations included their responsibility to communities, their responsibility to the environment, that would have a huge effect on them. I don't think that there's any economic system that has ever demonstrated perfection, but there are periods in human communities in which the principle of justice and caring is predominant, and then the economic system provides goods and services in a more equitable fashion. Can we bring that into our institutions? Of course we can. But multinational institutions operating without global governance controls, put our oceans at risk, our climate at risk. And that is corrupting of the sacredness of life. And we don't have the luxury of having the only voices in governing policy be those that serve the market. We have to find ways of bringing the sense of the sacredness of life, and the nurturing of our relationship to the natural world, to the fore. And we can. Laws create our main economic institutions, and laws can express these values just as they are disproportionately protecting the values of the market. There was a time in which slavery was considered a legitimate means of production. It's no longer considered a legitimate means. We would not ever plant gardens in our back yards in such a way that they would destroy the ecosystem of our homes.

by Jonathan Granoff

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Jonathan Meese: It is completely irrelevant for the human, whether an economic system is corrupt, as the human is not the economic system. The economic system is a totally autonomous structure that exists for itself. If the human is corrupt, then he is corrupt within his legislation. He may be so and it doesn't matter, especially when if he is corrupt to himself. We all are corrupt and this is ok. We should go to Las Vegas and play gambles. Everyone has to put on Red and everyone has to win or to lose. This is corruption. But this is not important. The total neutrality is the point. Only the most neutral is the most radical, this means when the pendulum is in the middle. All peripheries, the alleged radical states and the anti-radical states are only some flying spots where the neutral is reflected and then stands still. Then there is no corruption any more. But then nothing has to do with us any more as well. Economic systems are only themselves. They are independent from human being. It would be really stupid to stop it. Corruption is personified by Al Capone. Thank you, Al Capone.

by Jonathan Meese

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

Jonathan Stack: I don't know if any system is inherently corrupt, but all human beings are corrupt. That we are corrupt, it is part of us, we are flawed. And so, anything we create is going to have the seeds of flaw in them. It's not a matter of dismantling a system and then we are going to get -- [there is] corruption, so I don't know if there is -- I don't think what the key is, is necessarily just change the system and somehow everything going to be go. We have got to really look deeper into how we are going to manage the flaws of our own species and there is no quick fix to that, and you have to ask yourself, are you corrupt? Under certain circumstances, would you behave in a way that would not rise up to your ideals? Have you ever compromised on something that you believed in? And if you can figure that out, if you can kind of like, if you can work on yourself and you know the biblical quote, who will throw the first stone, very much the same thing. It's just like who's to know what's right or wrong and how to transcend those limitations. Figuring out a better economic system, I think that's going to become as a result of changing our individuals. Anyhow, that's what I am focusing on. Other people are focused on the big macro questions. I am not a macro question sort of guy. I am kind of like fugue, I got to take care of what I can see and imagine. So, I got to run the company better, I got to treat people better, I got to treat my family better and myself better. And if I take care of all of that, then I think maybe I have done my little bit to contribute towards this sort of the big questions. On the personal side, there's no time.

by Jonathan Stack

Sep 9, 2006 10:40:00 AM cite

José Manuel Prieto: What system are we talking about? I don’t think, that there is a corrupt economic system. Corruption has to do perhaps with economic systems. Corruption has to do with social systems, with the implementation, with the degree of [civil government], with de degree of [] that have elements that act within the system. I don’t think, that we can talk about inherently corrupt systems. The corroption is in [], and is linked to the culture of the country, to its political culture, to its traditions. And corruption is something that is alway present, and not something that can be eradicated. I believe that it’s something that should be fought permanently, with the consciousness that it exists, but without trying to [eradicate] corruption in a radical way. Hypothetically, there is a system where corruption doesn’t exist. I don’t think that this is possible. Corruption will always appear by some means or other and it’s up to society to [pursue] the task of society and to fight with it permanantly and consciously. I think that’s the plan we should put into action. And that’s my answer to the question, if there are inherently corrupt economic systems. I don’t think that there is anything else.

by José Manuel Prieto