http://www.fredoneverything.net/RecedingTide.shtml

I've lived in a 3rd world country, and I agree with the article. The main differences are:

- In the 3rd World, corruption goes all the way down to the clerk at the "DMV", whom you will have to bribe so you don't have to wait in line for 3 hours. In the USA the corruption seems to start with the city gov't officials, and gets worse the higher up in the food chain you go (DC is at the top)
---- e.g. I spoke with a local taxi driver and individual operators are shut out because the big taxi companies get the licenses and the "right" to pick up passengers at the airport

- In the USA the corruption is mainly *legalized* - that is, written into law. The extortion is legal and has the veneer of legitimacy. Witness the too-low speed limits and traffic enforcement, the Corporatism, the sweetheart "green tech" deals, the wars that enrich the military industrial complex.

- In the 3rd World, the populace *know* that the gov't is corrupt

- In the 3rd World, the populace *know* that the media is corrupt

 

I've had turkish firends that couldnt understand why you couldn't bribe police.

I've had friends go to mexico and have to bribe to police....yes, they were forced to.

 

Honestly I prefer bribing the cops after a BS traffic stop. It's faster, cheaper, and a win-win for both of us (after the sunk cost of the fact that a win-lose BS speed law is being enforced)

 

i mean, it was either give the cop $50 (on the way home to airport) or go to jail in mexico.

they also got robbed blind, surprised they werent kidnapped for ransom; who the hell in their right mind goes to mexico?


the turks were so blindly ignorant to our way of life it was rather amusing, and hell they were able to get out of a dui because of it. they also used to go into the middle of the street and stop traffic so they could pull out of driveways and what not, because that's what you do back home. they were a hoot, and didnt like to drink cold water.

 

Not that I'd like to live in the more corrupt parts of Mexico, but really, if you know how to navigate the corruption, and had a good job/business, life isn't bad. Yes of course you could be at the receiving end of a vendetta by some powerful corrupt gov't or military official.

In the USA, you can be ensnared by some stupid law that some bureaucrat may decide to use and make your life a living hell and bankrupt you (see EPA in the movie "Everything Illegal"). Or you could be the recipient of a nasty nuisance lawsuit that bankrupts you.

What's the difference?

The idea of living in a society of laws is good, but when the laws are bad, it almost negates it.

Unfortunately most people in the USA stop at the first part of the above sentence. They don't distinguish between just and unjust laws.