Moral Integrity
Senior 6 · English (Languages)
Moral Integrity
Lesson 2 of 4
35 min
Let's begin
A bribe is usually small, quick and private. Its costs are large, slow and public, and they fall mostly on people who were never in the room. In this lesson you will listen for the values behind a talk on corruption, including the speaker's attitude as well as her facts, and then write a cause-and-effect essay that traces how corruption damages a country's economy.
A talk given to a school integrity club, written for this lesson; the speaker is imagined. One student reads it aloud while the others take notes on (a) the definition, (b) the forms of corruption and (c) the three tests for a gift.
Good afternoon. I'm an accountant, so I'm going to talk about corruption the way accountants talk about everything: by asking who pays.
Let's start with a definition. The organisation Transparency International describes corruption as "the abuse of entrusted power for private gain". Notice the word entrusted. The examiner, the clerk, the minister: none of them owns the power they use. It has been lent to them, by the public, for a public purpose.
Corruption takes many forms. Bribery is offering or accepting something of value to influence a decision. Embezzlement is stealing money that you were trusted to look after. Nepotism is favouring your relatives, for example in giving jobs. Extortion is demanding payment by threat. People talk about "petty" corruption, the small sums paid at an office counter, and "grand" corruption, the millions diverted from a national contract. Frankly, I dislike the word petty. It makes the small bribe sound harmless, and it isn't.
Here's why. Imagine a young man who fails his driving test and pays the examiner to pass him. Who pays for that bribe? Not only the young man. Everyone who will ever share a road with a driver who cannot drive pays for it: pedestrians, passengers, other motorists. The money changed hands once; the risk is paid for every day.
And in Rwanda the law is clear: the person who offers a bribe commits an offence, just as the person who accepts it does. "I was only giving" is not a defence.
Now, students often ask me: what is the difference between a gift and a bribe? Isn't it polite to thank someone? I use three tests. First, timing: is it given before a decision, or while one is pending? Second, expectation: would it still be given if the decision went the other way? Third, secrecy: would you be happy for your head teacher to see it? If a "thank-you" fails any of these tests, it is probably not a thank-you.
So what values protect us? Integrity, which means behaving the same whether or not anyone is watching. Transparency, which means letting people see. And something that is not on most lists: courage. It takes courage to refuse when everyone around you says, "But everybody does it." Everybody does not. And the more people refuse, the fewer people will ask.
Definition
Key terms
A speaker's attitude is carried by particular words. Listen for them as carefully as for facts.
| Words in the talk | Type | Attitude shown |
|---|---|---|
| "Frankly, I dislike the word petty." | Attitude adverb + verb of feeling | Strong disagreement with a common way of speaking |
| "and it isn't" | Short, stressed contradiction | Certainty |
| "the law is clear" | Evaluative adjective | No room for doubt |
| "it is probably not a thank-you" | Hedge | Caution: a test, not a final judgement |
| "Everybody does not." | Repetition that overturns a phrase | Firm rejection of an excuse |
Discussion. Apply the three tests to these cases. (1) A parent gives a teacher a basket of fruit after the national results are published. (2) A shop owner offers a district inspector a "lunch allowance" during an inspection. (3) A candidate sends an interviewer airtime the day before the shortlist is announced.
Task. "Corruption is a tax that nobody voted for." Write an essay of 450 to 550 words on the effects of corruption on a country's economy.
Economists have studied these effects for decades. Studies such as Paolo Mauro's "Corruption and Growth" (1995) found that more corrupt countries tend to have lower investment, and the International Monetary Fund's 2016 staff discussion note on the costs of corruption describes how it weakens tax collection and distorts public spending. A good essay explains how each effect happens, step by step. The diagram shows why the effects reinforce each other.
Two ways to organise the essay
| Type | Expressions | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verbs (cause → effect) | cause, lead to, result in, give rise to, contribute to | Inflated contracts result in poorer roads. |
| Verbs (effect ← cause) | result from, stem from, arise from, be caused by | Poor roads often stem from inflated contracts. |
| Linking adverbials | consequently, as a result, therefore, thus, hence | Investors fear extra costs; consequently, they go elsewhere. |
| Prepositions | because of, owing to, as a result of, due to | Owing to lost tax revenue, clinics go unbuilt. |
| Relative chaining | …, which in turn … | Investment falls, which in turn reduces the number of jobs. |
| Hedging | tends to, is likely to, may, is associated with | Corruption is associated with lower growth. |
Worked example
A model body paragraph
"Perhaps the least visible effect of corruption is on investment. A bribe works like an unofficial tax: it raises the cost of every licence, inspection and contract, and, unlike a tax, its amount cannot be predicted. Investors, both foreign and local, therefore treat corruption as a risk, and they tend to respond to risk by investing less or investing elsewhere. Fewer new firms mean fewer jobs, which in turn means that less income tax and less sales tax are collected. The bribe that saved one businessman a week of waiting may thus cost the state far more than its face value."
Worked example
From cause to correlation: hedging a claim
The second sentence is stronger, not weaker, because it is true. Studies across many countries show an association; a careful writer does not claim more than the evidence shows.
Warning
Practice
Sources and credits
