A Christian Entrepreneur from Germany wrote in 1923 (!), after World War I, the following text on corruption in business[1]: “There can be times and situations where it can become extraordinarily difficult for the individual to follow his [ethical] orientation unconditionally. For example, in countries where everything has been turned upside down by the war [World War I] and its aftermath, it can happen that unscrupulous officials no longer do anything without bribes, and even better elements are urged to supplement their starvation wages in the same way. In the East, there are even states where there are specific tariffs for the venality of civil servants, from the minister on down. The merchant or manufacturer who has had his main sales or sources of supply in those countries may be faced with the alternative of bribing like everyone else or of forfeiting his dealings with the country in question altogether. Therefore, the individual will again and again be confronted with more difficult or easier questions of conscience, for which he cannot find the answer in any penal code, but only in his innermost being. … Business and truth are not, as is claimed, two incompatible concepts, but there can be wealth which is not willingly tainted with stains of untruth and which does not impose a burden of conscience on its possessors.”
I discovered this text in a small booklet of 1923 in my library while I am writing on the update and enlargment of my book on corruption (Corruption-free Churches are possible, 2010, new edition 2023). Some give up, saying that corruption exists since thousands of years. They are right. I just came back from Africa and can confirm this disease called bribery. However, my answer is: I do not give up and rather celebrate those who resist and overcome corrupt practices, like “our” entrepreneur 1923 as I quoted.
Let us celebrate 100 years of entrepreneurs, public officials, teachers and religious leaders who are corruption-free professionals!
[1] Des Christen Stellung zu Wohlstand und Reichtum. Gedanken und Erfahrungen eines alten Kaufmannes, Meiringen: Walter Loepthien-Klein, 1923 (!), p. 41. Author not published. Translated from German by CS.