Bushra Faisal al-Sibai

The Moral Flaw That Causes Underdevelopment and Corruption

10 July 2026 - 00:01 | Last updated 10 July 2026 - 00:01

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Those who review global lists tracking negative phenomena will find third-world countries topping the lists of negative phenomena such as violence, terrorism, crime, financial and administrative corruption, and oppression of women. And those who review global lists of positive indicators for countries—such as development, integrity, low crime and terrorism rates, and human, women's, and children's rights—will find third-world populations absent from them, while Scandinavian countries and Japan lead. So what is the reason for this paradox? The truth is that there is one single radical cultural cause for all the negative indicators and phenomena of underdeveloped countries and their peoples: the lack of a culture that enshrines 'self-discipline.' For a person without 'enshrined self-discipline' drifts without limits or restraints in his emotions, instinctual tendencies, ambitions, greed, desires, violence, desire to impose dominance, and inclination toward laziness, lethargy, and dullness. Thus, he does not discipline himself to commit to diligence and effort in education and work—which is called lack of a 'work culture.' He studies the easiest specialization, seeks the easiest job, does not adhere to laws and regulations aimed at the public good out of personal conscience, and retains a deceitful pattern, always trying to gain benefits with selfish, unbridled greed, resulting in a parasitic pattern based on fraud, deception, and financial corruption. No matter how many laws and regulations are put in place to combat his corruption, he finds ways to circumvent them. This is what happens when there is no general culture that programs its people on the principle of self-discipline, i.e., preventing oneself from anything that violates ideals, and committing oneself to ideals always out of personal conscience. According to anthropologists, there are two types of cultures: cultures centered on motivating humans to embody true moral ideals out of personal conscience, called 'guilt cultures' like the West; and cultures centered on motivating humans to create a social persona that earns respect through reputation/others' opinion, whose driver is society's opinion and its oversight and adherence to its customs—even if unethical, like customs of oppressing women—called 'honor-shame cultures.' Industrial countries that once had an 'honor-shame culture,' such as China and Japan, after becoming industrial countries built on a culture of self-discipline—without which no society can develop—have now predominantly adopted a 'guilt culture.' It is an intellectual shortcoming to consider self-discipline limited to abstaining from immoral acts only; self-discipline is a comprehensive concept covering all aspects of human behavior, and it is the foundation and pillar of societal development, growth, success, and safety. Without it, societies remain stuck in the chaos of unbridled, undisciplined instinctual tendencies that destroy countries. People in industrial societies have the same desire for control as those in underdeveloped societies plagued by wars, terrorism, coups, unrest, and proxy wars caused by greed for power, but they restrain themselves from the instinctive means of attaining power through killing, violence, sabotage, wars, and terrorism, and they satisfy their desire for global influence through civilized means, such as establishing industrial, technological, and scientific companies whose products dominate the world and make their owners more powerful than countries. In the most honest industrial countries, employees 'restrain' themselves from the greed of stealing public funds and taking bribes, while employees in corrupt countries have no self-restraint against the greed that breeds financial corruption, leading to capital flight, foreign investor reluctance, stalled development, and wasted resources. Similarly, self-restraint regarding lust: crime statistics in Europe show that the largest proportion of crimes are committed by immigrants because they come from societies where a culture of forcing men to restrain themselves does not prevail; instead, they rely on veiling women. Western newspapers report with shock the defense arguments of these individuals in court: that they are not accustomed to the presence of females, and therefore could not prevent themselves from assaulting. Elon Musk posted on his account a film about a true story of immigrants raping a minor using this excuse.