by Miguelito » Wed Dec 09, 2015 8:44 pm
YaTingPom wrote:Corruption in the west is just as rife but more subtle. The amounts are huge (Party "donations", lobbyist bribes) but it will still happen without recourse. FIFA is a good example. Huge corruption. F1 is as dodgy as it gets. Big drug companies, local council run areas, SME's all getting/giving back-handers.
Politics and business. Corrupt.
Corruption is a huge problem everywhere, of course. I guess it's human nature. Let's take the U.S. for example. There are far too many cases of corruption at every level of the system for us to discuss in any meaningful way. From petty officers in the navy committing organized government credit card fraud, to the Virginia governor's wife accepting a rolex from a businessman "friend." But what really differentiates this corruption from that which you see in various developing countries is that it is not accepted by the populace, that people are (mostly) held accountable for their actions. There are both internal and external controls, district attorneys that would like nothing more than to be able to put corrupt officials away, government watchdog groups, and an active and free press that are able to expose corruption, without fear of repercussions.
But then there are other types of "corruption" which seem to be accepted. We like to roll our eyes and comment on the VIP passes that well connected Khmers put on their dashboard, but even New York City has a similar process. There are different levels of stickers to put on your windshield, or an old badge on your dashboard, that you get based on either who you know or how much you donate. Donate a certain amount to the police force and get a gold badge stick for your windshield - you'll never have a problem in the city. I constantly wonder how the hell they can get away with that. Or the whole political appointees as ambassadors really starts to get under my nerves. Donate or fundraise a certain amount to a campaign and then become an ambassador? WTF is up with that? I could ask what qualifications Caroline Kennedy had to become ambassador to Japan aside from supporting Obama, but she's a Kennedy so gets a pass. But how the hell can you justify
Noah Mamet as the ambassador to Argentina, other than by the fact that he raised over $3 million for Obama? The guy hadn't even been to Argentina before, and doesn't speak Spanish.
A bit off topic, and a rant, but I guess my point is that there are differences, and some similarities, and people (and governments) will do as much "back-scratching" as their populations allow. Cambodians, for various reasons, tolerate a high level of it. Americans tolerate low levels of it, and make people face justice for breaching their duties; however, for some things that they don't understand (such as appointing ambassadors) they don't seem to care about.
[quote="YaTingPom"]Corruption in the west is just as rife but more subtle. The amounts are huge (Party "donations", lobbyist bribes) but it will still happen without recourse. FIFA is a good example. Huge corruption. F1 is as dodgy as it gets. Big drug companies, local council run areas, SME's all getting/giving back-handers.
Politics and business. Corrupt.[/quote]
Corruption is a huge problem everywhere, of course. I guess it's human nature. Let's take the U.S. for example. There are far too many cases of corruption at every level of the system for us to discuss in any meaningful way. From petty officers in the navy committing organized government credit card fraud, to the Virginia governor's wife accepting a rolex from a businessman "friend." But what really differentiates this corruption from that which you see in various developing countries is that it is not accepted by the populace, that people are (mostly) held accountable for their actions. There are both internal and external controls, district attorneys that would like nothing more than to be able to put corrupt officials away, government watchdog groups, and an active and free press that are able to expose corruption, without fear of repercussions.
But then there are other types of "corruption" which seem to be accepted. We like to roll our eyes and comment on the VIP passes that well connected Khmers put on their dashboard, but even New York City has a similar process. There are different levels of stickers to put on your windshield, or an old badge on your dashboard, that you get based on either who you know or how much you donate. Donate a certain amount to the police force and get a gold badge stick for your windshield - you'll never have a problem in the city. I constantly wonder how the hell they can get away with that. Or the whole political appointees as ambassadors really starts to get under my nerves. Donate or fundraise a certain amount to a campaign and then become an ambassador? WTF is up with that? I could ask what qualifications Caroline Kennedy had to become ambassador to Japan aside from supporting Obama, but she's a Kennedy so gets a pass. But how the hell can you justify [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Mamet]Noah Mamet[/url] as the ambassador to Argentina, other than by the fact that he raised over $3 million for Obama? The guy hadn't even been to Argentina before, and doesn't speak Spanish.
A bit off topic, and a rant, but I guess my point is that there are differences, and some similarities, and people (and governments) will do as much "back-scratching" as their populations allow. Cambodians, for various reasons, tolerate a high level of it. Americans tolerate low levels of it, and make people face justice for breaching their duties; however, for some things that they don't understand (such as appointing ambassadors) they don't seem to care about.