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Yeah, the other day this really hit home for me. I don't know why I hadn't previously thought about it in such clear terms. Being a congressperson has to be o

Yeah, the other day this really hit home for me. I don't know why I hadn't previously thought about it in such clear terms. Being a congressperson has to be one of the most morally hazardous occupations in the world. I mean, you have more direct control over how our entire society works than almost anyone else. So you become the perfect target for bribery and gain access to countless levers that you could pull in your own favor or the favor of your friends. I suppose this all goes without saying but for some reason it only recently dawned on me just how much this is true. And the position must select for people who are the most willing to exploit all those opportunities. Not sure how to really solve for it. Maybe getting paid more would help but I don't know.

tshaddox 5y ago
How about just actually making the bad stuff illegal and actually investigating and prosecuting it? Note that we’re discussing known bad things that congresspeople are doing.
- tessierashpool 5y ago
  in many, many cases the bad stuff is already illegal, and it's the investigations and prosecutions that are missing.
louloulou 5y ago
Welcome to the libertarian/small government world view!
- josho 5y ago
  Wow, so that actually deters me from libertarian ideals. It sounds like your logic is something like the following: Government is corruptible, so we should have small/weak governments. But, a small gov. doesn't solve the root problem, it just make it easier to corrupt what little power is left. Isn't the real solution to have some group responsible for providing oversight and enforcement to elected officials?
  - leppr 5y ago
    > Isn't the real solution to have some group responsible for providing oversight and enforcement to elected officials? Most US citizens seem to consider their government to be a "Democracy", that responsibility/authority should therefore naturally fall on the whole of their citizens.
    - wyre 5y ago
      Most US citizens are told and taught we live in a democracy, but our systems were designed as a republic. Saying that it is the citizens fault for our politicians corruption is the same flavor as saying it is citizen’s faults for global warming because we use plastic and drive cars.
  - imtringued 5y ago
    In my opinion small government doesn't make sense because that isn't even a good target to begin with. An effective government may be small or big. The dogmatic insistence on big or small governments often bought by a less effective government which just reinforces existing prejudices. Those who advocate for small governments tend to remove the best parts first because they are "optional". A lot of tax cuts are financed by cutting government investments which ultimately result in less overall investment in the economy.
dghlsakjg 5y ago
Singapore does a good job of matching public servant pay to private sector pay for that exact reason. They go so far as to index government pay scales to private sector pay. The entire intent is to attract very talented people that want to do a good job. Having access to the levers of power is much less of an incentive as a (theoretical) result.
- davesque 5y ago
  Yeah, that all seems like a great idea. I'm sure Singapore has its issues, but sometimes I think it's funny how logically other countries seem to approach their problems. It's almost as though they actually want to solve them. In the mean time, in the US, we can't have nice things because reasons. It's sort of like how Japan has toilets with warmed seats. In the US, we don't have that because...honestly I have no idea; it's a great idea that we're simply missing out on. P.S. To be fair, I think part of the reason Japan has this is that a lot of homes lack house-wide heating systems. They have things like kotatsus (heated tables) or space heaters. So it actually gets really cold in the winter. Having a warm toilet seat then seems like more of a necessity. But still...can't we just have warm toilet seats?
  - Baeocystin 5y ago
    Interestingly, the pandemic seems to have greatly spurred the speed of bidet adoption, which includes such things as heated seats. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/14/us-bidet-toilet-paper-sales-coronavirus https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/14/us-bidet-toi... I've had one installed in my house for years, and am 100% going to install one wherever I live in the future. The hygiene and comfort improvements are phenomenal.
  - ValentineC 5y ago
    > I'm sure Singapore has its issues, but sometimes I think it's funny how logically other countries seem to approach their problems. Singaporean here. Some of us think that there's a fair bit of legalised "corruption" and cronyism in the public system. :) (For the sake of avoiding any potential defamation suits that Singapore politicians are so famous for, this is entirely my opinion.)

tshaddox 5y ago

How about just actually making the bad stuff illegal and actually investigating and prosecuting it? Note that we’re discussing known bad things that congresspeople are doing.

tessierashpool 5y ago
in many, many cases the bad stuff is already illegal, and it's the investigations and prosecutions that are missing.

louloulou 5y ago

Welcome to the libertarian/small government world view!

josho 5y ago
Wow, so that actually deters me from libertarian ideals. It sounds like your logic is something like the following: Government is corruptible, so we should have small/weak governments. But, a small gov. doesn't solve the root problem, it just make it easier to corrupt what little power is left. Isn't the real solution to have some group responsible for providing oversight and enforcement to elected officials?
- leppr 5y ago
  > Isn't the real solution to have some group responsible for providing oversight and enforcement to elected officials? Most US citizens seem to consider their government to be a "Democracy", that responsibility/authority should therefore naturally fall on the whole of their citizens.
  - wyre 5y ago
    Most US citizens are told and taught we live in a democracy, but our systems were designed as a republic. Saying that it is the citizens fault for our politicians corruption is the same flavor as saying it is citizen’s faults for global warming because we use plastic and drive cars.
- imtringued 5y ago
  In my opinion small government doesn't make sense because that isn't even a good target to begin with. An effective government may be small or big. The dogmatic insistence on big or small governments often bought by a less effective government which just reinforces existing prejudices. Those who advocate for small governments tend to remove the best parts first because they are "optional". A lot of tax cuts are financed by cutting government investments which ultimately result in less overall investment in the economy.

dghlsakjg 5y ago

Singapore does a good job of matching public servant pay to private sector pay for that exact reason. They go so far as to index government pay scales to private sector pay. The entire intent is to attract very talented people that want to do a good job. Having access to the levers of power is much less of an incentive as a (theoretical) result.

davesque 5y ago
Yeah, that all seems like a great idea. I'm sure Singapore has its issues, but sometimes I think it's funny how logically other countries seem to approach their problems. It's almost as though they actually want to solve them. In the mean time, in the US, we can't have nice things because reasons. It's sort of like how Japan has toilets with warmed seats. In the US, we don't have that because...honestly I have no idea; it's a great idea that we're simply missing out on. P.S. To be fair, I think part of the reason Japan has this is that a lot of homes lack house-wide heating systems. They have things like kotatsus (heated tables) or space heaters. So it actually gets really cold in the winter. Having a warm toilet seat then seems like more of a necessity. But still...can't we just have warm toilet seats?
- Baeocystin 5y ago
  Interestingly, the pandemic seems to have greatly spurred the speed of bidet adoption, which includes such things as heated seats. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/14/us-bidet-toilet-paper-sales-coronavirus https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/14/us-bidet-toi... I've had one installed in my house for years, and am 100% going to install one wherever I live in the future. The hygiene and comfort improvements are phenomenal.
- ValentineC 5y ago
  > I'm sure Singapore has its issues, but sometimes I think it's funny how logically other countries seem to approach their problems. Singaporean here. Some of us think that there's a fair bit of legalised "corruption" and cronyism in the public system. :) (For the sake of avoiding any potential defamation suits that Singapore politicians are so famous for, this is entirely my opinion.)