I agree that corruption is everywhere. From the top down, and from the bottom up. Including myself.
I agree with Mr Ction here, though - if he means that some countries manage to more or less curb the worse effects of corruption to the betterment of the standards of living of the average citizen.
A lot depends on what you mean by corruption. One person's corruption is another person's legitimate licence. If instead of paying a bureaucrat a decent wage for the job officially you oblige him to take a back-hander, or baksheesh, from some applicant (for, say, a passport or driving licence), what's the difference in the end? Except that such a system is likely to have said bureaucrat charging increasingly exorbitant amounts, with no clear scale of charges.
Yet tipping is a form of corruption, in these sorts of terms, isn't it? Which is literally what baksheesh means, I think.
Another form of corruption is not working sufficiently hard for one's employer.
Or taking home certain office supplies. How many times have I left work and gone home only to realize I was absent-mindedly still holding the ball-point pen I'd been working with all day? I knew a guy who used to save going to the toilet until he'd got to work, on the principle that using company toilet paper was cheaper than his own at home.
I regularly cheat myself out of time and money, too.
Honestly, something needs to be done!
(On the other hand, Millman threads are like pearls of dew on a spider's web. Or like the calm before the storm. Or like the tinkling of teaspoons in cups.)
