4 ms·

Agreed. I mean, what a story about how companies are stolen, criminals take over banks, and murderers dictate to judges. About how politicians pay lip service

Agreed. I mean, what a story about how companies are stolen, criminals take over banks, and murderers dictate to judges. About how politicians pay lip service to cleaning up the system, or actively assist the criminals. It's a story whose twist and turns lead down a dark trail of corruption, violence.... and theft of billions from taxpayers via bank bailouts and currency devaluation and the eventual US/UK default upon billions of social obligation debt. Oops sorry, was going to stay on track with the Russian story. Don't know what happened there. Wait, what? The russian politicians only stole $235 Million? Man, they are small potatoes. Our politicans print hundreds of billions of dollars out of thin air every month, and we say 'sir, may we have some more'.

rdtsc 16y ago
Not sure if you are American, but to make you feel better about your country, it is worth pointing out that unlike Russia in US the corruption is mostly happening at the top. In Russia (and whole ex-Soviet space pretty much), the corruption is spread through and through the society. It is like a metastasized cancer. It starts with grade school where you have to bribe the teacher so they don't lower the grades of your child, you have to bribe your way out of a traffic ticket, you have to pay "extra" to not be ignored by nurses in a hospital, you have to pay public officials under the table to pretty much do anything. Then it goes to the top -- if you run a small business you often have to keep paying larger sums to avoid a mountains of artificially created red-tape, if you are unlucky you might have to also pay protection money to the local police/mafia. Then it gets worse as you go higher. Once you reach a certain level then you really have to start worrying about your life. Contract killings are just part of the business there.
- colkassad 16y ago
  As an American who has lived in an ex-Soviet state, I always cringe now when someone points out how Western governments are the same or somehow comparable. Getting pulled over by the police for no real reason at all except to get shaken down is a real eye opener. At least in the US you can go to a police officer for help and have a reasonable expectation of getting it. One of the first questions my wife asked me when were were thinking of starting a business in the US was who we had to pay to make sure nothing bad happened.

rdtsc 16y ago

Not sure if you are American, but to make you feel better about your country, it is worth pointing out that unlike Russia in US the corruption is mostly happening at the top. In Russia (and whole ex-Soviet space pretty much), the corruption is spread through and through the society. It is like a metastasized cancer. It starts with grade school where you have to bribe the teacher so they don't lower the grades of your child, you have to bribe your way out of a traffic ticket, you have to pay "extra" to not be ignored by nurses in a hospital, you have to pay public officials under the table to pretty much do anything. Then it goes to the top -- if you run a small business you often have to keep paying larger sums to avoid a mountains of artificially created red-tape, if you are unlucky you might have to also pay protection money to the local police/mafia. Then it gets worse as you go higher. Once you reach a certain level then you really have to start worrying about your life. Contract killings are just part of the business there.

colkassad 16y ago
As an American who has lived in an ex-Soviet state, I always cringe now when someone points out how Western governments are the same or somehow comparable. Getting pulled over by the police for no real reason at all except to get shaken down is a real eye opener. At least in the US you can go to a police officer for help and have a reasonable expectation of getting it. One of the first questions my wife asked me when were were thinking of starting a business in the US was who we had to pay to make sure nothing bad happened.