Apr 19, 2023 4 min read

Having been in leadership positions for decades, the concept of entitlement corruption became crystal clear to me. It was common to be invited to professional sporting events, dinner parties, and even a vacation house as a guest by some influential stakeholder who wanted to express their support and gratitude to you for your outstanding work.

Although there was rarely if ever a straight-out ask from them regarding your organization’s business, it was an unwritten and unspoken given. “Let us scratch your back and, in return, when the time comes, you can throw your business our way,” was the lay of the land.

Out of these social events also came some friendships and bonds that sometimes resulted in additional casual business commitments, too.

Even before I became involved in health care administration, I was aware of this type of entitlement corruption. I often observed individuals in positions of power getting special treatment. I always knew that if the alleged perpetrator was connected to power in some way, their skids would be greased, or their penalties would be minimized or ignored. If you were a member of the proverbial leadership club, the other members looked out for your interest and in return you were expected to look out for theirs.

The opposite of this was when someone at a lower level in the organization was “taken care of” to influence some decisions. If, for example, you were told that individuals in charge of areas that could influence decisions being made by patients, or that clients were being given gifts, trips, or special considerations, they could be reprimanded and even fired for accepting these what in other countries would be described as bribes. Did it happen? Heck yes. People were not so subtlety bribed to influence decisions, and some were fired.

The problem with all of this is that we make rules that are enforced for some and ignored for others. If you are not a Supreme Court justice, a president or former president, a representative or senator, and you are, in essence, bribed for your influence in the form of campaign contributions, lavish vacations, immunity from inside dealing on stocks, and even rides on private yachts and jets, the law is not equally applied to you. Heaven forbid you are the poor director-level person who gets caught accepting tickets to a professional sports game in return for potential favors for the purchaser’s organization.

These situational ethics directed toward influencers represent a level of entitlement corruption that is universal. Once, while visiting a foreign country that was internationally recognized for its duplicity, I noted that one primary difference between what I saw happening there and in America was that the tips there were paid before the service. In other words, no bribes, no business. It is a well-known fact that this ethical standard is rampant worldwide and especially intensified in third-world countries.

So, how do we straighten out the entitlement corruption factor at the top levels of our own government without enforcing it? When do we say, “Enough is enough?” Or do we just equip everyone with a swivel neck so we can continue to turn our heads when it involves our elected and appointed leaders?

One of my favorite college professors used to proclaim that the only people with freedom are the very rich and the very poor. The rich can surround themselves with armies of attorneys, accountants, and fixers to ensure they are never held responsible for their acts of unjust corruption, and the poor have nothing to lose because they have nothing in the first place. I’d like to add politicians to this list as well.

My only wish is that we stop taking binary stands. Admit there are crooks on both sides and face the fact that we are not enforcing the laws on either side of the aisle.

Can we please change that?

Nick Jacobs is a Windber resident.