Welcome back. This video is about the ethical aspects of corruption. Corruption is a bad thing. We all know that. How can we not? We're being told so all the time, British and American companies in particular, a hounded to the courts because they entered into deals with the governments and civil servants of other countries, and money changed hands to secure the deal.
That was corruption. And it must be bad if so many people say it is, wasn't it? What I'm going to offer an opposing view, it's quite simple. If you want to do business in more than three quarters of the countries of the world, you're going to have to be part of a deal in which someone gets a payoff, no payoff, no deal. So the question you have to ask yourself is, am I going to refuse to be part of any transaction in which any part was unethical? If you are That's fine, I commend you.
You're a fine upstanding model of a human being. But you're not going to do very much international business. And the people in your factory or wherever your goods or services are produced, may go hungry and may find themselves out of work. Why? Because in those three quarters of the countries of the world that I've already mentioned, if you don't give people what they want, they won't buy from you. And it's that simple.
Yes, I know if everyone in the whole world refused to be part of any corrupt deal, no current deal could take place. Well, griemann everyone in the whole world is not going to collaborate with you. Take Germany, for example. doing business in Germany itself is almost entirely free of corruption. But when a German company operates outside Germany, it does so on the basis when in Rome, do The Romans do. German companies will pay whatever bribes are necessary to win the deal.
And so will the French, and so will the Dutch, and so will, and so on. So it's really very simple. And all that's required of you is that you make up your mind. Do you want to be as clean as an archangel outside the pearly gates? Would you want to do business? It's your core.
But hold on. It isn't really that simple. In the next video, I'll be describing how corruption works in practice. The first example I use, and most of the examples in subsequent videos, shows people in wealthy countries using corruption as a way to divert some of the government's money into their own pockets. There's no point whatsoever in trying to find someone in government who will help you put a stop to that because government or already knows what's happening. This is a bit like the advice that used to be given to expatriates going to Hong Kong to work for the government there when Hong Kong was a British colony.
The advice new arrivals got on corruption in Hong Kong was this. You can get on the bus, you can walk alongside the bus. But whatever you do, don't try to stand in front of the bus. What that meant was this, some people go along with corruption, take part in it, accept bribes. They're the ones who get on the bus. Some people understand that corruption has taken place, but they refuse to have any part in it.
They're the ones who walk alongside the bus. And some people try to bring an end to corruption. Those are the ones who stand in front of the bus and that bus is not going to stop. Do I need to tell you what happens to someone who stands in front of a bus But doesn't stop. And there's another thing you need to consider. I've talked about corruption as a way for employees at wealthy governments to divert some of that wealth into their own pockets.
Trying to be a whistleblower will be a waste of time. It's no good turn in the government What's going on? Because the government already knows if it wanted to stop corruption, it would have government employees right up to minister level among those who are benefiting. If you try to blow the whistle, you are that person standing in front of the bus, and you're going to be run down. But what about when it isn't a wealthy government? What about corruption that involves the fact because that's what it is, of money provided by the United Nations, the World Bank or a charity to help a very poor country recover from a disaster, or simply improve the lot of its people.
You have to make up your own mind. About that, I'm telling you that governments in those very poor countries are at least as likely as the government's in wealthy countries to be part of an effort to divert to steal the money that's intended to help their very poorest people who are living in desperate circumstances with poor access to education, clean water, food and health services. If you still want to make the sale, that's your business. Go ahead. Personally, I've always refused. And don't kid yourself that if the money has been handled by one of the big global charities, then make sure it goes to the right beneficiaries.
They'll tell you they do, but they don't. The next video describes how corruption works. I'll see you there.