Share this comment
@Paula. I love the way you made your points! There seems to be a reality that many "public servants" and ALL political systems exact a certain "cost of doing business" that takes the form of graft, fraud, exploitation, corruption, actual waste and personal enrichment for some of those office holders. Governments, including ours is rat…
@Paula. I love the way you made your points! There seems to be a reality that many "public servants" and ALL political systems exact a certain "cost of doing business" that takes the form of graft, fraud, exploitation, corruption, actual waste and personal enrichment for some of those office holders. Governments, including ours is rated on various international scales (e.g. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-corrupt-countries). On this particular scorecard, the USA ranks 67 with 100 being perfect. There are 26 countries on this chart with better scores, but most of them are small countries with racially and culturally homogeneous people, and they are all democracies.
Thank you, Benjamin. I will take a look at your ratings link. I wrote my comments after reading the NYT and Am Prog links Robert provided, and based on my own experience. For sure, we can do much better...it’s the arc of justice bending in a positive direction that matters. Emotions of anger and sadness can paralyze and make matters worse. I played softball growing up. Getting up to bat, then swinging is a start, right? Can’t get to first base, otherwise. That is NOT to say we, and especially those in current public service, should UNDULY compromise. And no corruption! People’s lives depend on that.
I must say the NYT article made my stomach churn...for those of us who have undoubtedly been sickened, afflicted by mercury, etc., in that neck of the woods. I understand the jobs issues, too. Let’s just keep doing our best. For me, that’s as a Democrat.
@Paula. Me too!