As a state employee, I have to complete Ethics Training every year. One of the policies that always sticks with me is that state employees are not for sale. There are few instances in which we could accept gifts from anyone who currently has or wants to have a business relationship with NIU.
In fact, neither I nor any family members are allowed to accept “gratuities, discounts, entertainment, hospitality, loans, forbearances, honoraria, or any item with monetary value” that could be construed as a bribe or “nudge” to pass business a certain way.
I don’t see any problem whatsoever with that policy. But something that keeps bugging the heck out of me is how people at the head of our national government are not held to the same standards as us lesser mortals in more plebian positions.
High ranking politicians used to hold themselves to the same basic moral and ethical standards that their constituents were expected to uphold. Today, though, it seems like everyone is for sale and that buying a chunk of a “special purposes” structure opens all sorts of doors to influence and quid pro quos.
Where politicians once seemed to embody the best of us and project a sense of propriety in their dealings, they’ve now moved their “under the table games” to the dining room table and they opened wide the doors on their “behind closed door” dealings without impunity, shame, or concern for their reputations.
I’m expected to turn down free lunches from vendors while our leaders are shaking down corporations and countries in pay-to-play schemes. I’m not even sure if I can take a bite out of that apple my student left on my desk yesterday.
I’m Suzanne Degges-White and that’s my perspective.
