It seems the Americans are facing dark days ahead because of financial scandals.
Even Xerox has admitted falsifying financial records. It has now joined other disgraced companies such as WorldCom and Enron. Western societies, it seems, are now behaving like developing countries when it comes to making money the easy way by breaking the law.
Fraud, embezzlement, stealing and falsifying financial records are evidently common all over the world.
Neither respect for the law nor fear of punishment is sufficient to deter most criminals. It must be said, however, that when those criminals are caught in the West, they are disgraced and punished.
They are publicly humiliated and everyone is aware of their criminal acts and shady dealings.
In Third World countries, on the other hand, the law may be almost non-existent and those in power experience no curbs or restraints. Officials in those countries are killer fish, eating whatever stands on their way.
On the dirty streets of a big Third World city, you may find that people seem to lack basic values and morals. Poverty and misery have taught them many things — including crime.
The world we live in today is closely linked and connected and when it comes to personal gain, people behave similarly whether they come from affluence or poverty.
People in the West were not born with high morals and those in poor countries were not born corrupt and immoral. The difference lies in how people perceive and respect the law and its punishments and whether they feel they can escape the latter.
