Nepotism is one of those things that can easily cause arguments because it depends on how you look at it, If you are the one who gets favoured, because you know someone you will probably think it is okay, If you are the person who is qualified and gets overlooked because someone elses family member or friend has connections you will likely feel very differently.
For me I do not think nepotism should always be considered wrong, life is about the people we know, we naturally trust them, if I have a business and I want to hire my brother because I know he is a hard worker and I can trust him, I do not think that should be a problem.
That is my business, I should have some freedom to choose who works for me, That is where I draw the line.
The problem starts when nepotism happens in places where being fair is important, Imagine a government office, a school or a company hiring people just because they know someone while ignoring others who are clearly more qualified ,that is not about helping your family it is about taking away an opportunity that someone else deserves.
To me that is where nepotism becomes a problem, It is not one person who benefits ,someone else has to pay the price,the sad thing is that the person who loses out may never even know why they did not get the job, they may think they were not good enough when really the job was already given to someone's family member before the interviews even started.
That is really sad if you think about it, I have always believed that everyone should have a chance, If your son or daughter is really the person for a job then they should get it, Nobody should be punished just because they are related to someone, The problem is when that relationship is the thing that matters.
That is not fair. Now should nepotism be against the law? I do not think it is a simple yes or no answer.
Making every case of nepotism a crime would be hard because where do you draw the line? If someone recommends a friend for a job is that a crime? If a father teaches his daughter how to run the family business should that be illegal? I do not think so, However I do believe that there should be rules in places where the public trusts the people in charge.
Government jobs, public contracts, scholarships and other things that are paid for by the public should be based on who's best for the job as much as possible,People, in power should be held responsible if they use their position to help their family members, that in my opinion deserves consequences, At the end of the day I do not blame people for wanting to help those they love, Most of us would probably do the same if we had the chance.
Helping your loved ones should not mean closing the door on everyone else, There has to be a balance, Use your influence to help people yes, Do not shut the door on people who have worked hard and deserve a fair chance, for me that is what separates helping someone from abusing your power.
When your position becomes a way to only help your people while everyone else is ignored then nepotism has gone too far, that is something that no healthy community should allow.
Image Credit : Gemini AI
