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Southern_Giraffe1372 t1_j6mkquw wrote

I mean has there ever been a corruption free government?

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ux3l t1_j6ms1gg wrote

"No we have no corruption, that's only lobbyism, and lobbyism is an important part of democracy"

-Politicians

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SaiHottari t1_j6nzbu8 wrote

I feel like implementing a system where the government is antagonistic to businesses - rather than co-operative - would make for a better capitalist system. I can still see some problems, like government overreach to try and curb corporations and hurting smaller businesses, but I'm sure smarter folks could find a way to resolve that. The constitution might already be enough of a check and balance against that.

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abnormallybigears t1_j6mnhm3 wrote

No, but in countries like the US and the Netherlands you can clearly see its been increasing a lot over the last decades.

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N0pest t1_j6n0ith wrote

Or it just shows more because they're not able to hide it as well as before.

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abnormallybigears t1_j6nfh2z wrote

Thats definitely not the case in the Netherlands and as we see the power of companies rise I think its unlikely to be true in a lot of other countries

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keep_trying_username t1_j6nx65b wrote

Sure, was there really less corruption in the past? Or was it just a different kind of corruption that wasn't as easily identified?

If a politician used to take small bribes from 3000 companies, but now takes large bribes from 300 companies, is corruption less, more, or the same but different ?

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abnormallybigears t1_j6o0fac wrote

Taking bribes is what people think about when they hear corruption. But in developed nations thats not usually it. They do it for power. And I can say with certainty in the last two decades the Dutch government has increasingly been pressuring the press, hiding information, putting political friends in investigation committees, classifying things because they would reflect bad on the politicians etc I am not well versed in the state of every nation but if you dive deeply into dutch politics its been getting increasingly worse, and because the more visible trends seem to line up with other countries I do believe its getting worse in many places. I might be overgeneralizing though.

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keep_trying_username t1_j6oemur wrote

> And I can say with certainty in the last two decades the Dutch government has increasingly been

Lots of people say things "with certainty" when it's just an opinion based on your perception.

You've noticed corruption with increased frequency. Therefore, you conclude the frequency of corruption has increased.

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