3 ms·

The administration in many countries (northern Europe, say) is both competent and not corrupt. If the only way to get competence is bribes, you end up with neit

by lores 2y ago

The administration in many countries (northern Europe, say) is both competent and not corrupt. If the only way to get competence is bribes, you end up with neither competence nor a functioning society.

ein0p 2y ago
It’s also rather poor. When was the last time you’ve seen a poor US politician? Frickin’ Bernie Sanders has three times as many houses as I do.
- rootusrootus 2y ago
  > Bernie Sanders has three times as many houses as I do. He has an estimated net worth of $3M. He is 82 years old and makes $174K a year. Even if he made substantially less than $174K (adjusted downward for inflation) before he became a representative in 1991, he can benefit from compound interest just like the rest of us. Hell, I have been investing for slightly less than 33 years myself and I have a substantially similar net worth, and for a good part my early career I definitely was not making the salary of a congressman. Hell, it hasn't even been all that many years since I started making more than a congressman made in 1992. It's more surprising that $3M is all he's got. If I keep working until I'm 82, I should be deep into 8 digits of net worth. God I love compound interest. I hope my kids are listening enough of the time when I talk about it.
  - ein0p 2y ago
    You’ll be deep into 12 digits if inflation continues. And that’s if we somehow manage to avoid stagnation
  - Turing_Machine 2y ago
    > He has an estimated net worth of $3M. Now do his stepchildren, and exactly how much of their net worth came from Bernie's "campaign contributions". The way the game is often played is to hire other family members as "consultants" at extremely high salaries (Bernie didn't invent this, by any means -- take a look at how many congresscritters have relatives on the campaign payroll) . In theory, you can't spend campaign money on yourself, but paying it to "consultants" is allowed. And if those "consultants" happen to be relatives, and they happen to use some of their "salaries" to buy luxuries for Dear Old Dad, that's perfectly fine. Another good one is to set your relative, or even yourself, up in some ancillary business (e.g. advertising or printing). The late Oral Roberts (a TV preacher) was the innovator there. He was always crying about how he sent free Bibles and other religious stuff all over the world, and how many millions it cost. This was absolutely true. What he never mentioned is that his non-profit ministry hired his very-much-for-profit printing company to print all this stuff. As far as the government goes, there are pretty strict rules against paying actual government money out to relatives (though it does happen). The rules against paying out campaign contributions are a lot more lenient.
- lores 2y ago
  Northern Europe is not poor, it has one of the highest standards of living in the world, and individual countries regularly top happiness rankings to boot.

by lores 2y ago

ein0p 2y ago

It’s also rather poor. When was the last time you’ve seen a poor US politician? Frickin’ Bernie Sanders has three times as many houses as I do.

rootusrootus 2y ago
> Bernie Sanders has three times as many houses as I do. He has an estimated net worth of $3M. He is 82 years old and makes $174K a year. Even if he made substantially less than $174K (adjusted downward for inflation) before he became a representative in 1991, he can benefit from compound interest just like the rest of us. Hell, I have been investing for slightly less than 33 years myself and I have a substantially similar net worth, and for a good part my early career I definitely was not making the salary of a congressman. Hell, it hasn't even been all that many years since I started making more than a congressman made in 1992. It's more surprising that $3M is all he's got. If I keep working until I'm 82, I should be deep into 8 digits of net worth. God I love compound interest. I hope my kids are listening enough of the time when I talk about it.
- ein0p 2y ago
  You’ll be deep into 12 digits if inflation continues. And that’s if we somehow manage to avoid stagnation
- Turing_Machine 2y ago
  > He has an estimated net worth of $3M. Now do his stepchildren, and exactly how much of their net worth came from Bernie's "campaign contributions". The way the game is often played is to hire other family members as "consultants" at extremely high salaries (Bernie didn't invent this, by any means -- take a look at how many congresscritters have relatives on the campaign payroll) . In theory, you can't spend campaign money on yourself, but paying it to "consultants" is allowed. And if those "consultants" happen to be relatives, and they happen to use some of their "salaries" to buy luxuries for Dear Old Dad, that's perfectly fine. Another good one is to set your relative, or even yourself, up in some ancillary business (e.g. advertising or printing). The late Oral Roberts (a TV preacher) was the innovator there. He was always crying about how he sent free Bibles and other religious stuff all over the world, and how many millions it cost. This was absolutely true. What he never mentioned is that his non-profit ministry hired his very-much-for-profit printing company to print all this stuff. As far as the government goes, there are pretty strict rules against paying actual government money out to relatives (though it does happen). The rules against paying out campaign contributions are a lot more lenient.
lores 2y ago
Northern Europe is not poor, it has one of the highest standards of living in the world, and individual countries regularly top happiness rankings to boot.