Only action against corruption can solve the world’s biggest problems
The thesis that corruption is a root of other higher profile problems is a reasonable one, and the suggestions for combating it also make sense.<p>Even without considering the global links in corruption, though, we can ask &quot;Why do countries stay corrupt, given that nearly everyone would prefer less corruption?&quot; and there are answers that still readily available:  Firstly, there is seemingly a game-theoretic drive towards being corrupt if you see others succeeding through corruption; and secondly, corruption succeeds as long as there is the political will for it to continue.<p>So in some sense, the problem of corruption can be reduced to the problem of electing non-corrupt leaders.  This has important implications in terms of valuing electoral systems that truly represent the wishes of the population (and don&#x27;t, for example, devolve into a &quot;lesser of two evils&quot; political gridlock), and it confirms the simple observation that in a country which is a dictatorship, the dictator will engineer the system of corruption around themselves, but it also hints at a problem where corruption is so endemic in a society that all voters accept that their politicians will be as corrupt as them, especially if they&#x27;ve been let down in the past.<p>For this latter problem, though, I can&#x27;t help wondering if a valid strategy would be for a political candidate to say &quot;Vote for me and I will be extremely corrupt, enriching myself and my family at the country&#x27;s expense, but I will also root out all corruption among office holders lower than the national parliament&#x2F;congress.&quot;  (This strategy is reminiscent of one used famously and successfully on a British game show[0]).  So police and doctors and mayors would all be fully investigated for corruption (based on an anonymous tip-off system, and undercover sting operations) meaning the average person&#x27;s experience of corruption would be greatly reduced.  It would then be a job of a future leader (or a later term) to remove the deliberate loophole and make the laws apply even to the highest offices.<p>There are a few potential problems I can see with this system, but I think they can be mitigated.  Firstly, there is no guarantee that the candidate suggesting this approach will actually implement it if elected, but there is a financial incentive to prevent untaxed bribes so that the candidate has more tax revenue to embezzle for themselves.  Next, it is possible that a candidate might want low level corruption so that all potential challengers are equally tainted and can&#x27;t campaign on the basis of their own integrity; however that requires a lot of speculative long-term thinking that most corrupt leaders aren&#x27;t particularly good at.  Finally, there is a risk that an anti-corruption campaign is merely used as a smokescreen for arresting political enemies, so there would have to be safeguards built into the program, such as requiring video evidence and randomly chosen juries.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;blogs.cornell.edu&#x2F;info2040&#x2F;2014&#x2F;09&#x2F;30&#x2F;split-or-steal-an-interesting-take-on-the-prisoners-dilemma&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;blogs.cornell.edu&#x2F;info2040&#x2F;2014&#x2F;09&#x2F;30&#x2F;split-or-steal...</a>