Ever so often in conversations, we hear the oft-repeated words: "The system is the problem". That neither the system will be fixed nor the problem addressed is a given. Whether it is a person seeking legal remedies and is driven to desperation by the engineered delays, or someone presenting applications/proposals for approvals and clearances and receiving unfair treatment, or a bank account holder trying to complete financial transactions and hitting a roadblock, the blame is on the system.
At times, the system is manipulated without warning taking the victim by shock. Tamper proof systems are the need of the hour given the kind of times we live in. While designing a water-tight system is one part, the system is also about human beings.
Humans beings come in all shapes and sizes with their own drivers and a moral compass that may be completely lax. Any system, no matter how simple, once navigated successfully, gives the user an emotional high and a sense of accomplishment — be it one's car or a new phone.
But this should not tempt one to crack or mess with the same for not so honourable reasons — money, fraud, favours.
On the contrary, the operator should be encouraged to help enhance the system. Living as we do in times where the lines between the ethical and unethical is completely blurred and people are easily led astray, some unsuspecting victim receives a raw deal and is made to pay a heavy price.
Our computers, mandatorily require installation of anti-virus software /firewalls in order to avoid hacking and crashing. When the virus is of a different kind such as corruption, malpractice or manipulation, the challenges are so much bigger.
A good place to start is by working on the humans manning the system and defining the lines between right and wrong. Fear of punishment could be a deterrent but the rewards of doing what is right for its own sake should be explained.
A litmus test with key touchstones — am I doing the right thing, will my actions be fair and just if I were the person in question would I like it — has to be evolved. With moral science of any kind having gone outside our school syllabi, alternative steps have to be taken before we become a totally decadent and unethical society.