>your points about corruption are arguments against government in general This is not the case. The first step of "divide and conquer" is "divide." >If I have

>your points about corruption are arguments against government in general This is not the case. The first step of "divide and conquer" is "divide." >If I have no power over another, then my corruption affects only me. That's how how corruption works. It's not a property of individuals, it's a property of institutions. >corruption at the local level affects a limited number of people At first. Then two corrupt local levels team up, and there's nobody to stop them. Corrupt organizations don't require regulatory action to form alliances. Even if you decentralize everything on paper, they will be centralized in practice, because corruption causes some people to have disproportionate means to get what they want.