On Corruption in American Society

So I won't bother linking to the info about the Govenor of Illinois. Turns out the feds think he is crooked, and they've made a rather compelling case to the media. I don't know the whole story, but as a former public servant myself who investigated a fair amount of corruption allegations, I am always wary.

For example, a vendor to the governmental agency buys the purchasing manager a lunch. Corruption? Convenience store offers free coffee to police officers in uniform. The cops get coffee, the store gets a stead stream of nearly free security. Corruption? Maybe. Politician offers to provide an appointment to a colleague if certain fundraising goals are met. Corruption? Maybe.


The twist on corruption in a well-functioning bureaucratic society like ours is that it is not very profitable for the average government employee. There is some self interest in accepting the free pen, but there is also just a huge passel of laziness and good intentions. I am reminded of the scene in Stranger than Fiction where the IRS auditor is offered some cookies. He is compelled to refuse them, and because of that he is an asshole.

I think 90% of all corruption allegations I have seen are either bogus or the result of technical violations of complex accounting rules like those listed above. The other 10%, involve clear fraud. For example, selling public benefits (i.e. I will make sure you qualify for food stamps if you pay me $500); Self dealing, such as giving lucrative contracts to yourself through a shell company while hiding your involvement. Clear fraud is usually perpetrated by people with a true criminal mentality, not lazy public servants.

So I suppose it remains to be seen whether the governor of Illinois was a fraud or just lazy. The political machine in Chicago is legendary, but I've seen too many "investigative reports" on things that I actually knew about.