Why Plagiarism is Wrong

As I have reported before on this blog, Penn State University asserts that plagiarism is wrong because we deprive another author due credit for his work and we invite future employers and faculty to question our integrity and performance in general.

I now understand why Penn State dismisses plagiarism as wrongdoing. It's because a beautiful piece of writing is a product of many years of learning and experience. The writer of the piece therefore has an understanding that makes them think and behave well.

Someone who plagiarizes a beautiful piece of writing may be praised by his peers but he lacks the understanding that led to the penning of the writing. He will therefore do foolish things, hence why plagiarism is wrong.

I used to engage in plagiarism, a bad habit I began during my high school years at Starehe Boys' Centre. But I didn't do it in exams. Just in one essay-writing competition and in some harmless speeches I gave during evening assemblies, even when I was in fourth form in 2005.

Little wonder that when I was applying to four top American colleges in 2006, I mailed copies of an inspiring recommendation letter I had taken straight out of a book titled How to Get into Top Colleges. Of course I edited the letter a bit before having my high school physics teacher sign the copies I mailed.

What I found inspiring about my plagiarized recommendation letter was the way it said that I excelled in academics, music, sports and personal relationships, that I invested my soul in my studies and work, that I had a wonderful sense of humor, and that I was an exceptionally intelligent, caring, mature and balanced young man.

You know what? That recommendation letter was just a tissue of lies. To give but one example, I didn't excel in personal relationships, something that was apparent in 2007 when I joined a choir at All Saints' Cathedral in Nairobi where some choristers became suspicious of me due to my shyness.

As the years wore on, I engaged in more plagiarism. One evening in 2012 for instance, I gave a speech to the All Saints' Cathedral choir I joined in 2007. Some choristers thought my speech brilliant but I had lifted it from a stirring speech that Rev. Jesse Jackson delivered in 1984.

Had I been the author of that speech, I would have had the understanding to not do the sins I committed in the years that followed. Sins like putting some of my friends down, sharing smutty jokes with born-again Christians, and telling barefaced lies in the stories I posted on Facebook.

But the worst plagiarism I did was in the stories I posted on a blog I set up in 2013. It was the worst plagiarism because the stories could be read by anyone all over the world. In the words of one blogger I came across on the internet, that blog I set up in 2013 was "held together by plagiarism".

Among the stories I posted on that blog were those written by Ken Ngishili and Joe Mazzella, two amazing writers I bumped into on the internet. They extolled the virtues of love, kindness and compassion in their stories but I continued wallowing in hate, guilt and jealousy after pasting their stories on my blog. Indeed, plagiarism isn't right.

Having realized that plagiarism is wrong, I now understand why my Roget's Thesaurus classifies it under stealing together with burglary, poaching, pirating and cattle-rustling. How glad I am that I stopped plagiarising after rebranding this blog in 2016 to what it looks like now!

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed the above story on why plagiarism is wrong, you might also enjoy another one on "The 8th Commandment" which I wrote a couple of years ago. Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.