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I disagree that politics by its nature is corrupt. I can see how, in some countries, it is hard to think otherwise, but I find the statement itself to be false.

totalZero 5y ago
I agree with you. Certainly, you don't have to be corrupt to be a masterful politician. However, it is a fact that politics is a nasty business. We benefit when the people capable of doing it are the ones that we put in power. Otherwise, we will get gobbled up by the other factions and entities that do emplace that sort of person in their political institutions. Personally I find it very interesting that these behaviors have allegedly been known by those in his working radius for many years, yet they are only coming to a head now after Cuomo's profile was elevated within the party and on the national stage during the scary slog of covid. I am leery of the use of sexual indiscretions to hamstring political operators. If he did something illegal (to be clear, I am not saying he is innocent nor guilty), they should take it to court rather than to the New York Times.
luma 5y ago
Power attracts those who pursue power, and those most willing to go to any ends to obtain that power are those mostly likely to wind up with it. I don't think that power itself is necessarily a corrupting force, but it is a magnet for those who are corrupted.
- mc32 5y ago
  Maybe that’s part of it, but a lot of it is also how organizations of people work. When one person agrees and the other disagrees it comes down to interpretation of the rules and then imposing those rules. It can become very despotic quite fast. And it’s not because the people are like that. The “system” makes them into that. In the case above, if the agreer sees the disagreers side this encourages other disagreers to flout whatever it was and things can devolve into anarchy. So you necessarily have to enforce some rules.
- luma 5y ago
  Too late to edit my post but this quote from Frank Herbert's "Chapterhouse: Dune" says it well: > All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.
- alexashka 5y ago
  > those most willing to go to any ends to obtain that power are those mostly likely to wind up with it That's not how the real world works. We're not in a comic book or self help course where if you want something badly enough, you'll get it. Plenty of people want to be successful rappers (insert any other competitive profession). Most of them don't make it. Now if you genuinely believe the deciding factor is 'willingness to go to any ends', you're simply empirically wrong. That's not how the real world functions and if it did, complex modern society would not be possible.
ggggtez 5y ago
"power corrupts". Politics by nature is about assigning power to a few decision makers. Democracy has less corruption than other systems due to separation of power, but it's foolish to think there isn't temptation to become corrupt when you think you can get away with something.
dantheman 5y ago
Government politics is violence and coercion without consent - it is rotten at its very core. It may be necessary, and it can be better or worse, but forcing people to do things at the threat of violence is horrible. We should hope to evolve to a system where violent coercion is replaced by communication and consent.
- _-david-_ 5y ago
  >We should hope to evolve to a system where violent coercion is replaced by communication and consent. Until someone doesn't agree with a law. Then it will return to coercion.
alexashka 5y ago
As soon as there are multiple entities (countries, tribes, etc) that want the same thing (usually resources), there will be some level of dishonesty in order to gain an advantage (because human nature). The definition of corruption is willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain. Given a tribe is big enough, it'll have multiple sub-tribes in it. Now go back to paragraph one. That's why politics is corrupt, as soon as a tribe is above a tiny size, people act dishonestly to further their sub-tribe's interests.

totalZero 5y ago

I agree with you. Certainly, you don't have to be corrupt to be a masterful politician. However, it is a fact that politics is a nasty business. We benefit when the people capable of doing it are the ones that we put in power. Otherwise, we will get gobbled up by the other factions and entities that do emplace that sort of person in their political institutions. Personally I find it very interesting that these behaviors have allegedly been known by those in his working radius for many years, yet they are only coming to a head now after Cuomo's profile was elevated within the party and on the national stage during the scary slog of covid. I am leery of the use of sexual indiscretions to hamstring political operators. If he did something illegal (to be clear, I am not saying he is innocent nor guilty), they should take it to court rather than to the New York Times.

luma 5y ago

Power attracts those who pursue power, and those most willing to go to any ends to obtain that power are those mostly likely to wind up with it. I don't think that power itself is necessarily a corrupting force, but it is a magnet for those who are corrupted.

mc32 5y ago
Maybe that’s part of it, but a lot of it is also how organizations of people work. When one person agrees and the other disagrees it comes down to interpretation of the rules and then imposing those rules. It can become very despotic quite fast. And it’s not because the people are like that. The “system” makes them into that. In the case above, if the agreer sees the disagreers side this encourages other disagreers to flout whatever it was and things can devolve into anarchy. So you necessarily have to enforce some rules.
luma 5y ago
Too late to edit my post but this quote from Frank Herbert's "Chapterhouse: Dune" says it well: > All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.
alexashka 5y ago
> those most willing to go to any ends to obtain that power are those mostly likely to wind up with it That's not how the real world works. We're not in a comic book or self help course where if you want something badly enough, you'll get it. Plenty of people want to be successful rappers (insert any other competitive profession). Most of them don't make it. Now if you genuinely believe the deciding factor is 'willingness to go to any ends', you're simply empirically wrong. That's not how the real world functions and if it did, complex modern society would not be possible.

ggggtez 5y ago

"power corrupts". Politics by nature is about assigning power to a few decision makers. Democracy has less corruption than other systems due to separation of power, but it's foolish to think there isn't temptation to become corrupt when you think you can get away with something.

dantheman 5y ago

Government politics is violence and coercion without consent - it is rotten at its very core. It may be necessary, and it can be better or worse, but forcing people to do things at the threat of violence is horrible. We should hope to evolve to a system where violent coercion is replaced by communication and consent.

_-david-_ 5y ago
>We should hope to evolve to a system where violent coercion is replaced by communication and consent. Until someone doesn't agree with a law. Then it will return to coercion.

alexashka 5y ago

As soon as there are multiple entities (countries, tribes, etc) that want the same thing (usually resources), there will be some level of dishonesty in order to gain an advantage (because human nature). The definition of corruption is willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain. Given a tribe is big enough, it'll have multiple sub-tribes in it. Now go back to paragraph one. That's why politics is corrupt, as soon as a tribe is above a tiny size, people act dishonestly to further their sub-tribe's interests.