2/3/2020 HONESTY IS A LONELY WORD – Kaieteur News

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HONESTY IS A LONELY WORD

 Feb 02, 2020  Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom 0 Comments

Any political system which has to rely on the integrity of its personnel to ensure its effectiveness is
doomed to failure. Integrity and effectiveness are not the same.
For centuries, thinkers have philosophised about the ideal political system. The great political
philosophers have sought to propose the ideal political state and the manner in which power should
be structured and used. They have never sought to offer that the best government is the one which
is headed by someone who is honest or has integrity. Integrity and honesty have been treated as
personal character traits, part of the virtuous leader, but not an essential requirement of a just Sports
political system.
Over time, the assumption has been that governments should be subject to a system of checks and
balances to ensure that it is not run by corrupt individuals. This is evident today in the United States,
where a sitting President is being subjected to an impeachment hearing over allegations that he
attempted to use his political office for personal political gain.
Impeachment procedures are not moral inquisitions. They are imperfect but practical mechanisms
intended to ensure that sitting Presidents understand, whether they are impeached or not, that their
actions are subject to oversight, judicial as well as political, and that they will be held accountable for
their actions
The idea, therefore, that a country’s populace must actively seek out honest leaders, is alien to
political theory. The British have their no-confidence motions and the concept of political Seven athletes qualify at AAG
responsibility. The Americans have their system of checks and balances, including the threat of CARIFTA Trials
impeachment.  Feb 03, 2020

Democratic oversight and checks and balances have, however, failed to curtail the excesses of By Calvin Chapman The Athletics Association of
corruption in high political office. Political corruption, in fact, has thrived in the face of the very Guyana(AAG) held their fourth development meet
systems, which have been put in place to limit. There is therefore a search for new solutions to the of the year and first Caribbean Free Trade
problem of political corruption. Association (CARIFTA) trials yesterday at the
The solution is not to find the honest leader. Rather, it is to check his or her powers through National Track...
constitutional and other legal restraints. With the right restraints, it is felt that is possible to tame even
Read More
a rascal.
It has come to pass; however, that politicians have found ways around constitutional restraints. They
6th Kares Caribbean
can simply ignore, bypass or flout them. As such, a second round of solutions emerged. This
Fitness Challenge...
involves institutions to check, oversee and prosecute public officials.  Feb 03, 2020
There however is a downside to these watchdog institutions. Who will watch the watchdog? We have
seen in countries such as Brazil, where institutions with oversight duties have been used to hound
politicians out of office.
Therefore, the search for an answer to corruption remains and the answer is to be found in ideology, Sinclair slams century for
the ideology of the shrinking government. The idea is that with a smaller government, there will be GYO in drawn encounter
less corruption to worry about. With a smaller government, it will be easier to manage corruption.  Feb 03, 2020

The government, however, is moving in the opposite direction. It is enlarging the state. It is creating
more and more bureaucracy, and unnecessary committees and commissions which not only act as a
drain on the public purse, but which have been ineffective in fighting corruption.
Seebarran to make
What Guyana needs is smaller government, more technically committed and less bureaucratic. With
radical debut this season
bureaucracy comes red tape, and this red tape is used to frustrate people into paying bribes. With a  Feb 03, 2020
larger role for government comes the need for more contracts to be issued. And with more contracts
come corruption.
There is a need for a serious downsizing of government. The government has become an albatross
around the necks of the people. In order to finance an enlarged government, taxes have to be GCA’s NBS 2nd division
increased. Taxes have increased, and this has been taking billions of dollars out of disposable 40 overs cricket...
income, which is necessary to stimulate the economy.  Feb 03, 2020
The bureaucracy is adding further burdens to the population. The government is bloated, and it is
bloated with a great host of incompetents, many of whom got their jobs not on merit, but based on
connections, while we have bright students who have left school with good passes, being unable to
even be granted an interview for a government.

https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2020/02/02/honesty-is-a-lonely-word/ 1/3
2/3/2020 HONESTY IS A LONELY WORD – Kaieteur News
The government needs to be shrunk to reduce corruption. This is the solution to corruption, not Billingy cops gold;
honesty and integrity in leadership. Johnson, Van Lange
through to...
 Feb 03, 2020
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of this newspaper.)

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          Defending Mark Benschop and David

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In "Editorial" In "Features / Columnists" February 8, 2009
In "Features / Columnists"
HONESTY IS A LONELY WORD

Any political system which has to rely

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