#trasnparency

- TRANSPARENCY - 

silver gelatine print, 2018

request a band, transparent or logo in my ask

If you live in the Middle East or in any developing country, you definitely hear about corruption every day. People here call it “Smart”, as its the only way to operate and do business; and without it you can’t survive.

I personally were raised in an environment where the “smartest” people are the ones who can setup the best “under-the-table” deals. In this article, I don’t nag about how “idiot” I was per the Middle Eastern norms, yet I will talk about the one thing that can stop corruption. Transparency.

Corruption is the major reason for Poverty and Inequality

The major reason to stop corruption is that it leads to poverty. If you are in the Middle East, where economies are shrinking, the best place to do business is in high growth economies. My friends, who have lost their jobs in the recession, moved from Beirut, Dubai and Riyadh to Erbil, Juba and Misurata. They told me about the enormous wealth that these cities have, but also about the high levels of poverty among the masses.

Can you imagine that the majority of the population there, don’t have the necessary food and shelter for a basic living. Those cities have trillions underground (Oil), and Billions in government accounts, and millions in politicians’ accounts. And they are still poor. Because they are infected with the Corruption virus. 

Corruption is Viral and Enforced

Corruption moves from high level politicians to the people. In a developing economy, for you to survive, you have to play the game. The first game is to respect corruptive politicians and defend them against any accusation, or else you will be left behind without business. The second game, is that you need to excel finding ideas on how to use the government resources (Money, Projects, or Land) to generate income for those politicians, or else someone else will do it before you.

It starts from the top of the pyramid and goes down to every single purchase that the government will do. It spreads as quickly as the economic growth, and feeds from the poverty and needs of the people who have no choice but to follow the rules.

Transparency for People in Developing Countries

For all those new spring economies (Arab Spring and others) that was driven by the power of the masses and not by the people in power, Its time to expose all government data to the public. All planning, budgeting, tendering and spending projects has to be online. You do that with the same tools you did the change. You can use social media, internet portals, Wikis and other tools to build transparency. Its not as easy as a switch, but start somewhere and build on it. Create laws that can track the accounts of politicians, their families and friends. If the politicians are clean, they will accept it. They are there to serve you. Its either their privacy or your poverty. You should choose.

Transparency For People in Developed Countries

For people in developed countries and who care about humanity and equality, Its your role to choose politicians who will expose any under-the-table deals of big oil and arms companies. Hundreds die everyday of poverty in countries where ONE politician from a developing country has partnered with another politician from a developed country to make billions from undeclared oversees sales.

You have more power and freedom to change than those who live in countries that are ruled by corruption. You can choose politicians who plan more transparency.