Be critical or be corrupted
This is a good summary of a <i>specific</i> motif in The Wire, but I think it misses the larger message of the show: that there is no <i>institutional</i> or even <i>individual</i> difference between the two recurring groups in the show (Baltimore&#x27;s police and drug dealers).<p>In the show, both groups of individuals are subject to their institutions: power figures come and go (and bring changes that superficially alter the state of affairs), but the game fundamentally remains the same. This repeats itself in every explored institution: industry, schools, news, &amp;c.<p>In other words: there is no avoiding &quot;corruption,&quot; only moving it around. The show&#x27;s few &quot;good&quot; characters are characterized primarily by the ways in which their <i>personal</i> corruption does or does not affect the corruption of the larger institution they belong to (Daniels&#x27; FBI investigation, for example, or Kima&#x27;s personal descent.)