The Path Less Trodden

Of Tyranny and Oppression

2013-12-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

The Bane Of Corruption In Malaysia

2013-06-21T23:20:00.001-07:00

RASUAH: The Bribers and The Bribed

2013-04-06T18:04:00.004-07:00

So you have received that RM500, and there is promise for more if " I help you and You Help Me." Everything is now rosy- peachy, and you have been lulled into complacency. What tragedy. The sheer filth and brazenness of it all. What has this country turned into? Have we become a nation of the bribers and the bribed?

Corruption is a curse that afflicts many countries. It has become a major cause of concern throughout the world, but especially so for developing and underdeveloped countries it has been nothing less than blaspheme. Extensive poverty and economic crisis in these nations have led to corruption. It has infringed upon every aspect of society, government, business, military and so on. Even regulations have failed to combat corruption, as in most cases, even the enforcers and lawmakers have turned out to be corrupt.

The corruption quotes given below will give you a deeper understanding of this vice.

You can't get rid of poverty by giving people money.

- P J O'Rourke

Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet.
- Napoleon Bonaparte

When rich villains have need of poor ones, poor ones may make what price they will.

- William Shakespeare

One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace, good people don't go into government.
- Donald Trump

To be sinned in silence when one should protest, make cowards out of men.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed --- "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal." I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Martin Luther King Jr

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time; That this is the Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.

Abraham Lincoln

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

Voltaire

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

V for Vendetta

An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.

Victor Hugo

In Germany the Nazis came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up.

Martin Niemoller

Poor people cannot rely on the government to come to help you in times of need. You have to get your education. Then nobody can control your destiny.
-Charles Barkley

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
-George Bernard Shaw

     Clever tyrants are never punished.
-Voltaire

  It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes.
- Andrew Jackson

You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.
- Malcolm X

If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.
- Napoleon Bonaparte

Power is always dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best.
- Edward Abbey

What has destroyed every previous civilization has been the tendency to the unequal distribution of wealth and power.
- Henry George

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.
- Patrick Henry

In some of the countries where we operate, there is a tradition of corruption, in which the political elites work with business in the framework of unsavory relationships.
- Lee R. Raymond

Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you. ~Author Unknown

I have found some of the best reasons I ever had for remaining at the bottom simply by looking at the men at the top.—Frank More Colby

The problem with political jokes is they get elected. ~Henry Cate, VII

Plato told Aristotle no one should make more than five times the pay of the lowest member of society. J.P. Morgan said 20 times. Jesus advocated a negative differential - that's why they killed him.—Graef Crystal (1998)

Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage. ~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary,1911

Nothing strengthens authority as much as silence.— Leonardo da Vinci

Politics, n: [Poly "many" + tics "blood-sucking parasites"] ~Larry Hardiman

The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.—Frederick Douglass

Politics – I don’t know why, but they seem to have a tendency to separate us, to keep us from one another, while nature is always and ever making efforts to bring us together. ~Sean O’Casey

Democracy is being allowed to vote for the candidate you dislike least. ~Robert Byrne

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.
Nelson Mandela

All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.
Thomas Jefferson

False riches, consisting of money, houses and lands, acquired by selfish means at cost to others and thereafter used selfishly, are almost always used for the oppression of other persons.
Joseph Franklin Rutherford

Power in defense of freedom is greater than power in behalf of tyranny and oppression.
Malcolm X

He who allows oppression shares the crime.
Desiderius Erasmus

At the moment, we have leaders in this country who care more about the short-term profits of big corporations than they do about the long-term well being of the average working man and woman.—R.T. Buffenbarger

When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty.
Thomas Jefferson

I have an almost complete disregard of precedent, and a faith in the possibility of something better. It irritates me to be told how things have always been done. I defy the tyranny of precedent. I go for anything new that might improve the past.
Clara Barton

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.
C. S. Lewis

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.
Thomas Jefferson

The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant.
Maximilien Robespierre

Knowledge is power. Information is power. The secreting or hoarding of knowledge or information may be an act of tyranny camouflaged as humility.
Robin Morgan

Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.
Thomas Jefferson

There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.
Charles de Montesquieu
It's not tyranny we desire; it's a just, limited, federal government.
Alexander Hamilton

In a world without the law of God, you have chaos, oppression, tyranny, and everyone doing what is right in their own eyes.
Randall Terry

Money Politics and the Malaysian Malaise - 50 Corruption Quotes To Ponder

2013-03-31T15:53:00.000-07:00

"Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason." ~Author Unknown

These are dark and hard times. As we hurtle towards the momentous juncture of decision, here are some amazing quotes regarding the corruptible, for you to ponder when you cast that vote at GE13.

Warning: There is so much truth inside it will hurt. But there is panacea for the pain, and you will know the answer once you are done reading.

1. Corruption is worse than prostitution. The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country. - Karl Kraus

2. Power corrupts. Knowledge is power. Study hard. Be evil. - Eleanor Roosevelt

3. A government, for protecting business only, is but a carcass, and soon falls by its own corruption and decay. - Amos Bronson Alcott

4. One must beware of ministers who can do nothing without money, and those who want to do everything with money. - Indira Gandhi

5. “The duty of youth is to challenge corruption” - Kurt Cobain

6. “All the problems of the world - child labor, corruption - are symptoms of a spiritual disease: lack of compassion.” - Tenzin Gyatso The 14th Dalai Lama

7. “In a state where corruption abounds, laws must be very numerous.” - Publius Cornelius Tacitus

8. “Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it; and this I know, my lords, that where laws end, tyranny begins” - William Pitt the younger

9. “The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference” - Bess Myerson

10. “Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it's set a rolling it must increase.” - Charles Caleb Colton

11.“The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means” - Georges Bernanos

12.“Corruption is nature's way of restoring our faith in democracy.” - Peter Ustinov

13.“each candidate behaved well in the hope of being judged worthy of election. However, this system was disastrous when the city had become corrupt. For then it was not the most virtuous but the most powerful who stood for election, and the weak, even if virtuous, were too frightened to run for office.” - Niccolo Machiavelli

14.“They call me corrupt, frivolous. I am not at all privileged. Maybe the only privileged thing is my face. And corrupt? God! I would not look like this if I am corrupt. Some ugliness would settle down on my system.” - Imelda Marcos

15.“Our worst enemies here are not the ignorant and simple, however cruel; our worst enemies are the intelligent and corrupt” - Graham Greene

16.“Entitlement and privelege corrupt.” - Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale

17.“Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.” - John Steinbeck

18.“Contradiction is the salt which keeps truth from corruption” - John Lancaster Spalding

19.“The fight for justice against corruption is never easy. It never has been and never will be. It exacts a toll on our self, our families, our friends, and especially our children. In the end, I believe, as in my case, the price we pay is well worth holding on to our dignity.” - Frank Serpico

20.“There can be no press freedom when journalists exist in conditions of corruption, poverty and fear.” - Aidan White

21. The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently - Friedrich Nietzsche

22. “Corruption is authority plus monopoly minus transparency.”- Unknown

23. "Power attracts the corruptible. Absolute power attracts the absolutely corruptible."
- Frank Herbert

24. "It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the faults of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from their sense of inadequacy and impotence. We cannot win the weak by sharing our wealth with them. They feel our generosity as oppression."- Eric Hoffer

25. 'Information is the lifeblood of a democracy. Without adequate access to key information about government policies and programs, citizens and parliamentarians cannot make informed decisions and incompetent or corrupt governments can be hidden under a cloak of secrecy.' - Stephen Harper

26."Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason." ~Author Unknown

27. "Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other."
~Oscar Ameringer

28."Politicians say they’re beefing up our economy. Most don’t know beef from pork." ~Harold Lowman

29."Some men change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for the sake of their party." ~Winston Churchill

30."Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first." ~Ronald Reagan

31."If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal." ~Emma Goldman

32."We have plenty of Confidence in this country, but we are a little short of good men to place our Confidence in." ~Will Rogers

33."We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office."
~Aesop

34."Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote."
~George Jean Nathan

35."Those who corrupt the public mind are just as evil as those who steal from the public purse."
- Adlai E. Stevenson

36."Governments that block the aspirations of their people, that steal or are corrupt, that oppress and torture or that deny freedom of expression and human rights should bear in mind that they will find it increasingly hard to escape the judgement of their own people, or where warranted, the reach of international law."
- William Hague

37."For far too long the world's poorest people have seen no benefit from the vast natural resources in their own backyards. It is time to end the injustice where ordinary people are silent witnesses, left to suffer without basic services, as the profits from their countries' assets are hidden and plundered by corrupt regimes."
- Nick Clegg

38."When a nation is over-reliant on one or two commodities like oil or precious minerals, corrupt government ministers and their dodgy associates hoard profits and taxes instead of properly allocating them to schools and hospitals."
- Bono of U2

39."Men of integrity, by their very existence, rekindle the belief that as a people we can live above the level of moral squalor. We need that belief; a cynical community is a corrupt community. "
- John W. Gardner

40. "If a policy is wrongheaded, feckless and corrupt, I take it personally and consider it a moral obligation to sound off and not shut up until it's fixed."
- David Hackworth

41. "I have never intimidated the masses... I only intimidate corrupt officials."
- Zhu Rongji

42. "You can't get rid of poverty by giving people money."
- P J O'Rourke

43. No matter how noble the objective of a government, if it blurs decency and kindness, cheapens human life, and breeds ill will and suspicion - it is an evil government.
- Eric Hoffer

44. “One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”
― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

45. “Experience has shown, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”
― Thomas Jefferson

46. “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”
― Aung San Suu Kyi, Freedom from Fear

47. “To oppose corruption in government is the highest obligation of patriotism.”
― G. Edward Griffin

48. “The mistake you make, don't you see,is in thinking one can live in a corrupt society without being corrupt oneself. After all, what do you achieve by refusing to make money? You're trying to behave as though one could stand right outside our economic system. But one can't. One's got to change the system, or one changes nothing. One can't put things right in a hole-and-corner way, if you take my meaning.”
― George Orwell, Keep the Aspidistra Flying

49. “Conflict is created by two conditions: the evil that is sanctioned by the corrupted…and the sacrifice borne by upright men and women who chose to destroy it.”
― Adam Turquine - from Beyond Mars Crimson Fleet

50. “Among a people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist.”― Edmund Burke

There is more here.