It’s very interesting that we use “spoiled” to describe people with bad behavior in addition to a fruit that’s gone bad. I realized that rotten fruits and corrupt people/officials have many things in common.
They all look great in the beginning. Just think of a freshly harvest Apple. It looks so good, especially if polished and with few drops of dew. A newly elected or “nonelected” official looks great in the beginning. The promises they make. The illusions they create. It all sounds and looks appetizing. They will say magical things, “I wish it will rain again in Jeddah so the psychological barrier is broken,” or “there is no reason why we can not be from the developed world,” or “we have world class training and we are ready for anything.” Of course, we all know what happens to these promises on the first drop of rain or the next fire (new to the list) or when we live our daily lives. So, just like an Apple, over time these officials become rotten.
A rotten Apple can damage the whole harvest and so does a corrupt official. Rotten people are damaging to the whole society. Their damage spread so fast and penetrate every aspect of a society. Ask any farmer and they will tell you that a rotten fruit is terrifying and can cost a farmer everything. So, farmers work tirelessly to prevent a rotten fruit and if found, they remove it immediately.
I always thought a society can survive with few corrupt officials, the untouchables. We have to live with them. Where in the world you would not find corrupt officials? However, 2011 has proven that you can not. We must not! The damage they cause is hidden and takes a while to creep up. Look at Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, Iran, Greece, Italy, Wall Street, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Global Warming, Shell Spell (I know it is a spill), McDonalds, Burger King, and the list is growing. This is happening because we did not act like farmers. We did not move fast enough to remove the rotten officials. We have allowed them to damage the whole harvest. If we do not act like farmers, our industrial mentality will ruin our world.
The same aspects cause a rotten official and a rotten fruit. Age, external elements, and lack of vigilance. As time passes, fruits and officials go bad. It’s the nature of things. Have you seen a 10 day old Apple?! Yuck! This might be the reason why Switzerland reFRESHes their officials every year! The “new” Egyptian revolution is caused because the officials are old and rotten. The bad fruits of Egypt have been infecting the whole society and therefore it is taking the farmers of Egypt many attempts to clear out the rotten fruits. There is also external elements, the weather. The political weather in the Arab world has been fertile for rotten fruits. They took over the whole harvest and it became the norm to see the rotten fruits rather than fresh. We can longer see what a Fresh official look or act like. Moreover, the lack of vigilance from farmers can cause a whole harvest to go bad because of one bad Apple. Our lack of vigilance and interference has caused so many rotten officials that we can not see or seed fresh ones.
Finally, if we do not act like farmers, we will lose the harvest. We will lose our society. If you walk in Jeddah, you can smell the rotten officials in almost every corner of Jeddah.
ارحم اهلي 