>Go back 100 years [...] they made so little money that taking bribes was how they kept afloat financially. Hell, even today that's still the case in many coun

>Go back 100 years [...] they made so little money that taking bribes was how they kept afloat financially. Hell, even today that's still the case in many countries with a large number of underpaid public servants - specifically China, where extorting bribes is considered a perk of the job. Contrast to Singapore, which pays its members of parliament 3x the median household income and is tied for second place on the (lowest) Corruption Perception Index. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBBre3bpvyk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBBre3bpvyk