Corruption is the abuse of power for gain, such as political or personal gain. Wealth, power and influence are all related, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as people who grow rich are usually clever and in most cases honest (we mostly only hear about the bad apples in the news). Those who have achieved strong influence are by and large talented individuals who are in the know about a certain area of expertise. And those who grow powerful are generally competent individuals who can get things done. Of course there are those lucky enough to be born into power or wealth, but unless these individuals are particularly clever or talented in their own way, they more often than not aren't put into great positions of authority. George W. Bush is actually a smart individual, he made it to Yale and got an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, just look at YouTube videos of him from before the election and he seems extremely competent. What happened after is a different story.
To explain corruption here I'm going to concentrate on lower levels of corrupted authority in the private and public sector. Private sector organizations tend to be more efficient than public sector equivalents because a profit making private business won't last long with out customers actively choosing to purchase products or services from them for reasons such as those being better than the competition's products or services. Whereas in the public sector, a lot of the time the consumer doesn't have much of a choice or a say. Such as how the American police force is run, there seems to be a lot of room for improvement which just doesn't seem to be being worked on, there are too many horrifying examples of American police brutality out there.
So let's say there is a new multi-million dollar road paving contract up for grabs and the city council has to hire a company to get the job done, obviously wanting to keep the tax payers and voters happy all the while. Organizations who want the contract have to submit a 'bid' (how much they'll charge, and a contract stating what they'll do) for the job and the council chooses which 'bid' to pick.
Bidder one is a relatively small time fish, 'Paver Joe', he submits a small price for the job and sees this as an opportunity to grow his business rather than make a profit. His contract is a little unprofessional and the work isn't a guaranteed professional job, but it'll save the tax payers a lot.
Bidder two is 'Pavers Inc.', they've done this kind of work before, there company is very professional and can guarantee a perfect job done but at a significantly higher price. The tax payer knows they'll get their roads done, but at an expected sacrifice of funds.
Bidder three is 'Corrupt R us'. They submit a price only a little higher than Paver Joe's price, and look extremely professional with flashy brochures and Armani suits. They also present all this to the council at Palm Beach golf and spa resort, all expenses paid and bring the family. Open bar too. After the speeches about the company, drinks and of course the part of the contract that states they give bi-annual reports which will happen here again at the resort, so see you back in a few months if you pick us. All is very comforting and seems reliable.
Bidder three gets the contract. During one of the bi-annual reports, a talk is given about how the pavers came across some problems in the road and it's they have to do the excavation procedure according to paragraph 12 of section 2b and it's going to cost an extra $2 million, but guess what, fortunately you hired us and we managed to lower the suppliers charge and it's only going to cost $1.5 million. So thanks to your great choices you've just saved the tax payers half a million dollars! Along with a few more instances like this, the price of the contract can double or triple.
The council now has the choice of or feeding the story to the public or admitting they were duped and commit political suicide. They choose the former. This is a made up example but based on real life events that continue to happen all the time, and it explains too much of the wasted government resources. It doesn't seem like the sinister political corruption you might see in a James Bond movie but this is only an example of corruption on the small scale of things, it gets much worse the higher up you go.
To explain corruption here I'm going to concentrate on lower levels of corrupted authority in the private and public sector. Private sector organizations tend to be more efficient than public sector equivalents because a profit making private business won't last long with out customers actively choosing to purchase products or services from them for reasons such as those being better than the competition's products or services. Whereas in the public sector, a lot of the time the consumer doesn't have much of a choice or a say. Such as how the American police force is run, there seems to be a lot of room for improvement which just doesn't seem to be being worked on, there are too many horrifying examples of American police brutality out there.
So let's say there is a new multi-million dollar road paving contract up for grabs and the city council has to hire a company to get the job done, obviously wanting to keep the tax payers and voters happy all the while. Organizations who want the contract have to submit a 'bid' (how much they'll charge, and a contract stating what they'll do) for the job and the council chooses which 'bid' to pick.
Bidder one is a relatively small time fish, 'Paver Joe', he submits a small price for the job and sees this as an opportunity to grow his business rather than make a profit. His contract is a little unprofessional and the work isn't a guaranteed professional job, but it'll save the tax payers a lot.
Bidder two is 'Pavers Inc.', they've done this kind of work before, there company is very professional and can guarantee a perfect job done but at a significantly higher price. The tax payer knows they'll get their roads done, but at an expected sacrifice of funds.
Bidder three is 'Corrupt R us'. They submit a price only a little higher than Paver Joe's price, and look extremely professional with flashy brochures and Armani suits. They also present all this to the council at Palm Beach golf and spa resort, all expenses paid and bring the family. Open bar too. After the speeches about the company, drinks and of course the part of the contract that states they give bi-annual reports which will happen here again at the resort, so see you back in a few months if you pick us. All is very comforting and seems reliable.
Bidder three gets the contract. During one of the bi-annual reports, a talk is given about how the pavers came across some problems in the road and it's they have to do the excavation procedure according to paragraph 12 of section 2b and it's going to cost an extra $2 million, but guess what, fortunately you hired us and we managed to lower the suppliers charge and it's only going to cost $1.5 million. So thanks to your great choices you've just saved the tax payers half a million dollars! Along with a few more instances like this, the price of the contract can double or triple.
The council now has the choice of or feeding the story to the public or admitting they were duped and commit political suicide. They choose the former. This is a made up example but based on real life events that continue to happen all the time, and it explains too much of the wasted government resources. It doesn't seem like the sinister political corruption you might see in a James Bond movie but this is only an example of corruption on the small scale of things, it gets much worse the higher up you go.
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