How Corruption Got This Bad

lapcat

The author is a former DoJ prosecutor and blames the Supreme Court for legalizing corruption. However, the author admits "Congress can undo much of what the Supreme Court has done" and neglects to mention that Supreme Court justices are nominated and confirmed by politicians. The author does touch on a broader point: "This isn’t partisan politics; it’s political elites protecting political elites." So the real question to me is, how did this phenomenon, which I would assume had always existed, get this bad? My own view is that modern technology has allowed the wealthy to consolidate power on a national and even international scale, in a way not possible in the past, forming one big elite social club. You can see this with the Jeffrey Epstein scandal; that dude was friends with everyone , business, academia, art, politics, left, right, even royalty!

lioeters

It's always been utterly and disgustingly corrupt. The current clown is a symptom of generations of mismanagement and a thoroughly compromised government on both sides of the oligarchy. Their wealth is built on the suffering of hundreds of millions around the world, a tragedy perpetrated by war criminals, traitors, liars and thieves. When will the people of the world stand up and demand justice? A global reform of governance is necessary, sooner or later. Seeing how the public defends the status quo, don't hold your breath - maybe better luck next century, if we still exist.

maerF0x0

i've said it for a decade. The united states is the most corrupt country i've witnessed (first hand), the difference is they've legalized their corruption. I think it goes down to the core of the culture which ultimately decided that money was the primary value of all choices, (as opposed to say, ethics, justice, religion, collective health metrics etc)

potamic

The elephant in the room is that the concept of separation of powers has been shown to be a farce. Checks and balances can only work when there is independence between the branches. When a single ruling party is able to influence all three branches, there is concentration of power. And we know very well from history, power corrupts. This is a problem not just in America but every democracy in the world. Some countries are just fortunate to be blessed with abundance that there's plenty left for everyone even after skimming off the top. But it's a ticking time bomb nonetheless ready to set off when the circumstances align. I think people need to think about the fundamental structure of government. The three branch system as it functions today in many countries is clearly compromisable. The system needs to change, there must be a better mechanism to guarantee independence and integrity within the branches without the honor system.

rstuart4133

Corruption is worse under Trump, but according to a recent Australia ambassador to the USA it's always been there: https://www.abc.net.au/news/107237782