Alexander the great, former King of Macedonia, born in Pella in July 356 BC the greatest worrier of all times who conquered much of the World, died in Babylon(now Iraq) in 323 BC due to Malaria- a treatable and ordinary disease now. The Conqueror of the World kept beseeching God to give him time to reach his country but the die was cast and he died on a foreign soil, thousands of miles away from place, he belonged to. Before his death he told his people to bury him with his hands out of his grave so that the people can see that the conqueror of the World is carrying nothing with him. His death in Babylon also teaches a lesson that how powerful and mighty the King( or for that matter any human being may be), he/she has to leave this world, empty handed and that one does not know when and where his/her time may be up.
Those who read history and learn lessons, know that their fate is going to be the same but those who excel in greed and only believe in accumulating and multiplying their wealth neither learn nor follow what history teaches us. When greed and corruption is rampant in a society, when desire for riches transcend all borders at any cost-legal or illegal, moral or immoral, justified or unjustified, right or wrong and evil doing is all pervasive, honesty becomes a crime. When those who preach and practice honesty become “persona non grata” in their countries and treated as misfits in the society, the thieves rule the roost. Honesty thus becomes a crime and thievery becomes the order of the day.
Honesty is not just a quality, it is a way of life. It is a virtue which only few possess. It is always exposed to temptations which are not easy to resist but those who have firm belief in “Honesty is the best policy” dictum always sail through the ocean of desires, temptations, lust for money and worldly needs, harmless and victorious. An honest person not only earns respect from society but is rewarded in every aspect of life in this World and in the World hereafter. Honesty improves mental and physical health. On the other hand, dishonesty can increase blood pressure and heart issues and lead to other adverse health consequences. Honest yet compassionate, communication promotes openness and trust and is fundamental for functioning social and intimate relationships. Self honesty – to be truthful to ourselves – is essential in building confidence, integrity, and self-awareness. These are protective factors against substance use and other risky behavior. Honesty is essential for social progress and development around the world. The truth lays the foundation for progress, while dishonesty contributes to greater problems. There is a neuro-physiological difference between deception and truth at the brain activation level, contributing to a stress reaction when we are dishonest. Honesty, speaking and acting truthfully, is more than not lying, deceiving, stealing, or cheating. It entails showing respect towards others and having integrity and self-awareness. Honesty is the foundation for trust and key in social relationships; it gives us hope, confidence, compassion and improves decision-making.
There is evidence that non-pecuniary moral costs arise from lying and stealing. This enhances the classical theory on immoral behavior as a product of income effects and the probability of getting caught and punished . Further research found that the intrinsic costs of lying depend on the context. It shows that teams lie more often than individuals. This effect is driven by communication which seems to reduce moral costs regarding dishonesty. Moreover, pay schemes affect the intrinsic costs of lying. Competition fosters lying compared to fixed wage and piece-rate incentives. Furthermore, participants in experiments have also been found to lie more often when they feel they are treated unfairly. The same context dependency holds true for the intrinsic costs of stealing. Research revealed that unfairly treated participants who are underpaid show a higher tendency to steal. Moreover, it is more likely that people steal from their companies compared to individual coworkers, indicating varying intrinsic costs of stealing which are conditional on the victim . There is evidence that costs of immoral behavior reasonably depend on factors allowing the self-justification of the decisions. While the framework conditions are crucial for lying as well as stealing, there has not been any attempt to compare the level of lying and stealing under identical incentives so far.
Lying and stealing are immoral actions disturbing social interactions and harming economic agents in various ways. Various Researchers found a variation in the rate of immoral action between lying and stealing when all incentives and the risk of consequences from immoral actions were kept constant. Results suggest higher intrinsic costs associated with stealing compared to lying. Recent studies focus on self-justification as a main determinant of intrinsic costs of immoral behavior. We conclude, in line with these studies, that the authority receiving the immoral act provides participants with a potential self-justification. If someone is dishonest to someone else, the victim has the opportunity to convict the liar. This (possibly unrealistic) opportunity might be operationalized by liars to justify their immoral behavior. However, removing this authority leaves agents with less self-justification and increases their intrinsic costs of immoral behavior.
Not being honest can hurt your relationship with the people you care about and love. No one wants to hurt them because no one can be honest. If we’re honest, good stuff will happen to you, maybe not about the other person, but for you. That’s what honesty is all about speaking up when someone is trying to put you down. Being honest also isn’t just a word, it’s a chance to do what you believe is right. No one can change who you are and if you’re honest. The only one who can change that, is you. As long as you believe in yourself and know you can be honest, you will end up having a lot of integrity doing the right thing. You may get hurt doing it, but people will protect you for doing what you think is right and for being honest. You just have to remember that no one controls you, you control you, and if you do the right thing, you will have a lot of good stuff coming your way. Nobody can do it except for you because you are who decides if it’s right or wrong. It’s doing what you always believed and what you thought, was right.
Lets now judge ourselves- we the people of land of pure- are we honest ?honest to ourselves and honest to the country? Let’s do some soul-searching and ponder over what we have done to this beautiful country-Leaders and individuals included. The reasons where we stand now today are not difficult to identify and don’t require any rocket-science to prove. It is just simple dishonesty, greed and corruption which has tarnished our image and brought the country to the brink of disaster.
—The writer is former civil servant, bassed in Islamabad.
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