2 ms·

I go back and forth on this myself. I'm the first to admit my ignorance of such topics to be completely honest. However, what I've noticed about myself as I'v

by dijit 2y ago

I go back and forth on this myself. I'm the first to admit my ignorance of such topics to be completely honest. However, what I've noticed about myself as I've become more wealthy is that I'm less corruptible. I've always had a strong moral backbone, sure, but I've noticed that I am less likely to do things that compromise what I want to do, as I've become more rich. So, maybe you need your politicians to be somewhat rich and numerous, in order to prevent external pressure from people who have an incentive to bribe *ahem*... sorry.. "lobby".

coldtea 2y ago
>So, maybe you need your politicians to be somewhat rich and numerous, in order to prevent external pressure from people who have an incentive to bribe ahem... sorry.. "lobby". And how's that been working out?
- dijit 2y ago
  Everything is comparative. What are we comparing to?
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
piva00 2y ago
Getting rich already means you have a higher drive from greed, allowing greedy people in positions of power doesn't mean it makes them less corruptible just that the corruption is on a higher level and degree. Instead of an official taking a bribe on a briefcase full of cash there are layers of indirection, contracts between companies, some kind of trust somewhere that benefits from it, someone gets employed in a position of power like the board of some company, etc. It's funny because I grew up in a very corrupt country (Brazil), nowadays when I compare the corruption I saw there with developed countries I've lived at the main difference is how brazen and shameless it is in Brazil while in developed places it has more layers to be stuffed into, and veneers attached to it to hide it away.
- cowsandmilk 2y ago
  > Getting rich already means you have a higher drive from greed I know tons of people who work at NVidia for whom this isn’t true. They love working on hardware and suddenly we’re worth 8 figures because of the rise of the stock.
  - piva00 2y ago
    Getting rich as an employee from a lucky draw at employment is very different than how the vast majority of politicians got rich. I don't believe this kind of nitpicking helped to further any discussion around the main point I made.
AnimalMuppet 2y ago
> However, what I've noticed about myself as I've become more wealthy is that I'm less corruptible. I think the difference is, what was your goal? If your goal was something other than getting rich, then it can go the way it did for you. But if your goal was to get rich, if you went into politics because you thought that you could make a lot of money around the edges there, then the more you rise in power, the more opportunities there will be for corruption. Character matters. It matters for everyone, and it matters in particular for politicians.

by dijit 2y ago

coldtea 2y ago

>So, maybe you need your politicians to be somewhat rich and numerous, in order to prevent external pressure from people who have an incentive to bribe ahem... sorry.. "lobby". And how's that been working out?

dijit 2y ago
Everything is comparative. What are we comparing to?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

piva00 2y ago

Getting rich already means you have a higher drive from greed, allowing greedy people in positions of power doesn't mean it makes them less corruptible just that the corruption is on a higher level and degree. Instead of an official taking a bribe on a briefcase full of cash there are layers of indirection, contracts between companies, some kind of trust somewhere that benefits from it, someone gets employed in a position of power like the board of some company, etc. It's funny because I grew up in a very corrupt country (Brazil), nowadays when I compare the corruption I saw there with developed countries I've lived at the main difference is how brazen and shameless it is in Brazil while in developed places it has more layers to be stuffed into, and veneers attached to it to hide it away.

cowsandmilk 2y ago
> Getting rich already means you have a higher drive from greed I know tons of people who work at NVidia for whom this isn’t true. They love working on hardware and suddenly we’re worth 8 figures because of the rise of the stock.
- piva00 2y ago
  Getting rich as an employee from a lucky draw at employment is very different than how the vast majority of politicians got rich. I don't believe this kind of nitpicking helped to further any discussion around the main point I made.

AnimalMuppet 2y ago

> However, what I've noticed about myself as I've become more wealthy is that I'm less corruptible. I think the difference is, what was your goal? If your goal was something other than getting rich, then it can go the way it did for you. But if your goal was to get rich, if you went into politics because you thought that you could make a lot of money around the edges there, then the more you rise in power, the more opportunities there will be for corruption. Character matters. It matters for everyone, and it matters in particular for politicians.