If the public expresses contempt and revulsion for bankers who cheat their clients, oil executives who wreck the climate, FIFA officials who countenance kickbacks, and politicians who cozy up to all of them in exchange for campaign funds and bribes, illegality for the few cannot become the norm. Public scorn might not end corruption immediately, but it can make life far less pleasant for those who are stealing the commons from the rest of us.
如果公众对欺骗客户的银行家、破坏气候的石油公司高管、纵容回扣的国际足联官员及拉拢上述所有人以换取竞选资金和贿赂的政客表现出鄙视和厌恶，那么少数人的违法行为就不能成为准则。公众蔑视可能无法立即结束腐败，但却可以破坏盗窃公共资源者的生活。