WHEN HONEST PEOPLE ARE CALLED FOOLS
When corruption increases in a society, it is not only money that disappears. Something quieter and more dangerous also happens:
The measure people use to distinguish right from wrong begins to break down.
At first, the person who acts unjustly feels ashamed. Someone who gets things done through connections does not openly tell everyone about it. A person who takes away someone else’s rights at least knows that what they have done is wrong. Then, little by little, people get used to it. As the number of people engaging in the same behavior increases, shame begins to seem unnecessary.
“If I don’t do it, someone else will.”
“Everyone does it.”
“That’s just how things work in this country.”
“You have to stop being a sucker.”
You may hear these sentences once and not think much about them. But when the language of a society begins to change, you realize that its values are changing as well. After a while, the honest person starts to look strange.
Someone who tries to get something done without using a personal connection is told, “Don’t be so naïve.” Someone who refuses an advantage they are not entitled to is regarded as a “sucker.” A taxi driver who returns money left behind by a passenger makes the headlines; people react with amazement. A student who refuses to cheat on an exam may even be mocked by classmates.
Someone who asks for fair treatment in an institution may be told, “You don’t understand how the world works.” This is where the real danger begins. Because the problem is no longer simply that there are people who act unjustly. The problem is that injustice has begun to be regarded as normal.
Throughout my academic career, I had the opportunity to observe closely how institutions change. I saw that when rules are not applied equally to everyone, the damage goes far beyond the injustice of that particular moment. After a while, people’s behavior begins to change as well. First, one person is favored. Then someone else tries the same route. Eventually, people begin making the following calculation among themselves:
“If I don’t look after my own interests, others will get ahead of me.”
And so, what was initially an exception gradually becomes the method. No one asks anymore, “Is this right?” Instead, they start asking, “How can I benefit from this?”
I believe this is one of the clearest signs of moral decay: people stop feeling disturbed by what is wrong. Knowing that something is wrong and having the courage to oppose it are two different things. When everyone around us behaves in the same way, it becomes remarkably easy to stop questioning our own behavior.
Honesty also has a price. A person who refuses to use connections may have to wait. Someone who refuses an unjust gain may miss certain opportunities. A person who does not reach for what belongs to someone else may fall behind in the short term. I have seen this throughout my life. But the reward for honesty does not always appear immediately. Sometimes all a person has left is their own conscience.
It may seem like a small thing at first. But being able to put your head on the pillow at night without having to fight with yourself is not a gain that should be underestimated.
There is also the way all of this affects children. We constantly tell children, “Be honest.” But they pay far more attention to what we do than to what we say. When we use personal connections to get something done in front of a child, the impact of our words“ If you work hard, you can succeed” becomes weaker. When we take advantage of something we are not entitled to, telling them to “be fair” loses some of its meaning.
When we treat rules as something that applies only to other people, we are effectively sending a child this message:
“Rules apply only if you are not powerful enough to get around them.”
I can think of few forms of education more damaging than that. Because societies are shaped not only by laws, but also by what they come to regard as normal in everyday life.
When a society begins to believe that the honest person is a fool and the cunning person is intelligent, the problem is no longer simply the immorality of a few individuals. The standard itself has changed. And when the standard changes, even wrongdoing can begin to look right to the person committing it.
That is why remaining honest is not always as easy as it may seem.
It is easy to remain honest when everyone around you behaves honestly. The real test comes when the people around you are bending the rules and you are still able to hold your ground.
To remain the same person when no one is watching...
To turn down an advantage even when you know you could take it...
To be able to say, “I could do this, but I will not.”
I believe this is where character reveals itself.
Over the years, I have learned something:
“Sometimes a person may lose something because of their honesty. But when they lose their honesty, they lose a part of themselves.”
That is why when honest people become fewer in a society, it does not simply lead to more injustice. The trust people have in one another also begins to disappear. And once trust has been eroded, rebuilding it is far more difficult.
Perhaps that is why, in a place where an honest person is considered a “sucker,” we should first question not the honest person, but the society that uses that word.
Because perhaps the problem is not that the honest person has failed to adapt to the world.
Perhaps the world has become so accustomed to wrongdoing that it has started to find honesty strange.