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Quite irrelevant to this link, but interesting to note here anyway: in Slovakia, anti-ACTA protests are right now joined together with protests against the cur
by runn1ng 15y ago
Quite irrelevant to this link, but interesting to note here anyway:
in Slovakia, anti-ACTA protests are right now joined together with protests against the current political system, thanks to leaking of so-called "Gorilla" police file, that proves links of political parties to big money.
The reality of Czech and Slovakia is that corruption is much more prevalent than in the west. People are getting really angry here. But the message that these protests tell is also "I got noone to vote for".
- Vivtek 15y agoDude, look at the ongoing travesty in Washington and tell me again that Slovakia has more prevalent corruption. I'm just not sure I believe it. It's just less smooth and more obvious in a small country.
- untog 15y agoSeriously: the influence of big money on US politics is a bad thing. But it's far, far away from the worst corruption out there.
- nextparadigms 15y agoMaybe things are still a little better in US, but I wouldn't go as far as saying there's a dramatic difference. The real difference is that a lot of corrupted acts have been made legal in US, while in other countries they are not.
- arethuza 15y agoOut of interest, what would you view as "the worst corruption out there"?
- raquo 15y agoWell, like Putin & Co owning/controlling most of Russian enterprises larger than a certain threshold? Oil, machinery, aviation - you name it, they have it. Like not being able to get health care beyond the very basics without spending a fortune in bribes. Like having a price tag on signagures of everyone in parliament/government, or on becoming an MP or the like. Corruption can really be bigger problem than it is in the US, and when quality of life is so low, it becomes a problem of surviving it rather than it being an abstract long term threat to development or something.
- arethuza 15y agoYes, that is bad. FYI I'm currently in the middle of reading the book "Treasure Islands" about tax havens, which spends a lot of time explaining how these places play a key role in facilitating truly global corruption: http://treasureislands.org/ http://treasureislands.org/
- Vivtek 15y agoGranted. I wasn't making that claim, either.
- zalew 15y agoIn the US you call it lobbying and you can publish a colorful chart with official data who paid whom what. In eastern Europe it's money passed 'under the table' of which you hear after a few months/years if ever, and cases take years to prove and sentence.
- Vivtek 15y agoIn the US it is never tried or sentenced. It's simply made law, or laughed about if anybody mentions it.