The Cost of Integrity

 A few nights ago, I had a conversation with a very good friend I rarely see these days. He recently resigned from his corporate post after decades of working for the company. I guess those in sales, especially those who are pulled away from their families because of their jobs, suffer burnout the most. Anyway, after resigning from this huge company, he became the chief of staff of our congressman, who is also his close friend from way back their college years.   So from corporate, my good friend changed into a completely different path: that of politics. 

He just started his job in the congress last July 1. He then had firsthand experience of the systemic rot that pervades the hallowed halls of government, especially congress. He saw how contractors literally bring bags of cash into congressmen's homes and offices, how for every project, various politicians earn a percentage of the total project fee (1% of 1 billion is a huge amount, mind you), how the construction companies already know the projects that are up for bidding way before the budget gets approved. Corruption is already so ingrained and commonplace that even the staff of these congressmen get their own share as well.   For every meeting, they get an envelope with a wad of cash. And yes, the pressure from the higher-ups is high. If you oppose the current administration, your district does not get budget allocation for your projects, no matter how noble, urgent, and necessary those projects might be. And yes, they are required to list flood control as their priority projects. Tsk, tsk.

My good friend, idealistic, kind, and patriotic as I have always known him, could not stomach it all. He tendered his resignation and will step down from his post once August ends. He only managed to stay for two months. Because that’s what a rotten system does to good people: it drives them away. Because if they stay, tiny cracks form in their walls of integrity until they eventually collapse. And they, too, become part of the very system they once swore to fight.

I am very proud of my friend. In a place where power tempts and money blinds, he chose to walk away. And that, I think, is the cost of integrity: you have to know when to walk away. As for me, I am just happy that my friend is back home, where we can climb mountains and dream about change again.