“Sheer” Waste?, 3

Public contracts are another good example: when the mainstream media feed us the small fry to keep us oblivious of the big fishes, we’re outraged by bribery of politicians and public officials, as we observe how the basic purpose of them all as public servants is bribe. Afraid this is true for the small fry only, though: big fishes have far more sinister plans. Regardless of the size of fishes, though, the bribe is but the tip of the iceberg. If as citizens we’re outraged by the crimes of our traitorous employees, what about the real order of magnitude of those crimes? If we’re outraged by one unit of purchasing power of bribe, then what about one million or one thousand million units of corresponding damage?
Sometimes bribes buy what one would be entitled to, the case where politicians and public servants extort them to perform what is their duty in the first place; in such cases the briber is a victim and the society suffers from both the theft and the bottleneck strangling it.
But more often bribes buy what one would not at all be entitled to – and steal it from those legitimately entitled to it –, which is the other case, where politicians and public servants agree upon the bribe to betray their duty; in such cases the briber is the accomplice, if not the instigator, and the society suffers from a far greater theft and damage: the bottleneck breaks and drowns society in a flood of poison. Whether it’s useless stationery, faulty machinery, crumbling buildings, polluting or selling off vital resources, the real order of magnitude of the damage of Judas’ betrayal is not just those thirty dinar, but the full scope of the consequences of the betrayal of Jesus. A betrayer is a threat far greater than his or her meanness.

By the way, there’s also another, perhaps less intuitive and self−evident, facet of the damage: the “wasted” resources might be used for something ethical, productive, useful. Where there is damage, there might be benefit – the damage steals the benefit its seat. As a rule of thumb, this even doubles the full scope of the damage, which amounts to the damage suffered plus the lost benefit.