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Your outrage reminds me of the "bribery scandal" of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Somebody "exposed" an extensive system of bribes made to officials who would vote

Your outrage reminds me of the "bribery scandal" of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Somebody "exposed" an extensive system of bribes made to officials who would vote on the host city for the Olympics. Every night more allegations of the scandal were reported with proper shock and outrage. It was a bit of a head scratcher for me. I remember, for example, when it was uncovered that one official had been gifted a very expensive custom-made shotgun. The news anchor was very solemn in reporting this outrageous misdeed. Rewind 9 or 11 months earlier and the exact same anchor was cheerfully reporting a public ceremony in which a visiting Olympic dignitary was presented with a gift from the organizing committee formed to win the bid. It was a happy day filled with optimism and hope for what might soon be. Lots of flash bulbs. That publicly-presented token of good will was the custom-made shotgun.

secabeen 6y ago
The issue there is that the custom-made shotgun should be considered a gift to the Olympic organization as an organization, not to the official personally. The official could even display the shotgun in their office. Then, when they left that office, the shotgun stays behind, and doesn't become part of their personal collection.
- freeopinion 6y ago
  My point was that we all observe blatant corruption all the time. Very often, we don't even think about it until somebody calls it out. Here's another example: When was the last time you saw a big shiny 4-door 4x4 with a company placard hauling a boat on a weekend? The company placard is for a construction company or something that is unrelated to towing boats on non-business days. Does it even register with you that this is probably committing some kind of tax or business impropriety? The truck is written off as a business expense, but its main purpose is personal. Do you even care? Does anybody care? Probably not too many who pass the boat doing 10 miles over the speed limit. Probably not the LEO who passes the people passing the boat. Probably not the guy at the marina who notices that the registration on the boat is expired, but sells beer to the 20ish-year-old kid driving the truck without ID.

secabeen 6y ago

The issue there is that the custom-made shotgun should be considered a gift to the Olympic organization as an organization, not to the official personally. The official could even display the shotgun in their office. Then, when they left that office, the shotgun stays behind, and doesn't become part of their personal collection.

freeopinion 6y ago
My point was that we all observe blatant corruption all the time. Very often, we don't even think about it until somebody calls it out. Here's another example: When was the last time you saw a big shiny 4-door 4x4 with a company placard hauling a boat on a weekend? The company placard is for a construction company or something that is unrelated to towing boats on non-business days. Does it even register with you that this is probably committing some kind of tax or business impropriety? The truck is written off as a business expense, but its main purpose is personal. Do you even care? Does anybody care? Probably not too many who pass the boat doing 10 miles over the speed limit. Probably not the LEO who passes the people passing the boat. Probably not the guy at the marina who notices that the registration on the boat is expired, but sells beer to the 20ish-year-old kid driving the truck without ID.