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See also MP John Banks' “I can only help you if your donations to me are anonymous” to Dotcom. This case is making public a whole lot of what looks like routine

by mattdw 14y ago

See also MP John Banks' “I can only help you if your donations to me are anonymous” to Dotcom. This case is making public a whole lot of what looks like routine corruption.

veb 14y ago
Yet NZ is supposed to have next to no corruption. OK... [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index
- belorn 14y ago
  Same goes for Sweden with their totally non-corrupt investigator who just happen to get a high paying job from one of the parties days after the case.
- lostlogin 14y ago
  It's funny. I know of numerous cases of borderline corruption here. They may be legit, but they sure as hell run close to the line. I struggle to imaging what happens in a country considered to be 'actually corrupt'.
- RachelF 14y ago
  Same goes for Australia, there's a high level of corruption in the form of donations to politicians.
  - chii 14y ago
    Theres no way to avoid the sort of "corruption" that you speak of - when an individual (or entity) has money, it can be translated to power thru the use of it. The difference is that at least donations are (supposed to be?) listed and tracable, and can be scrutinized if necessary. Compare it with the sort of corruptino you find in countries like india, and china, where you _have_ to give money to the official to get your paper signed to do somethign that ordinarily you should'nt have to (e.g., may be you'd like to open a car import/export business. you'd be paying quite a few visites to gov't officials with expensive gifts or unmarked bills).
- nodata 14y ago
  That's an index of visible corruption.
  - sageikosa 14y ago
    Quibble: perceived corruption isn't the same as visible corruption, things that are disguised are visible, but one may not perceive them as the things they are, rather as the things they disguise themselves to be. Takes a little bit of epistemology to make sure that what you think you perceive is in fact what is really going on (how do I know what I know?). Corruption may be going on all around people, but they see it as "business as usual" or it's built into the "lawful" system, so isn't perceived as corrupt (though it is visible). Some people expect a certain amount of "low-level" (harmless?) corruption, so reserve their identification of corruption to particular visible or impactful events.
- user-id 14y ago
  Well, "next to no corruption" is still within bounds...
lancewiggs 14y ago
John Banks (along with Winston Peters) are the two politicians in NZ who appear to abide by their own set of values, doing whatever it takes to get elected. Essentially everyone else, especially from the National, Labour and Green parties are on a higher plane. We may not enjoy everything they say and do, but in NZ politics smells a lot less from personal ambition than elsewhere, and anything as small as a favour to a mate is seen and exposed as corruption. Our tolerance for corruption is extraordinarily low, which is why this case is causing such issues.

by mattdw 14y ago

See also MP John Banks' “I can only help you if your donations to me are anonymous” to Dotcom. This case is making public a whole lot of what looks like routine corruption.

veb 14y ago

Yet NZ is supposed to have next to no corruption. OK... [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index

belorn 14y ago
Same goes for Sweden with their totally non-corrupt investigator who just happen to get a high paying job from one of the parties days after the case.
lostlogin 14y ago
It's funny. I know of numerous cases of borderline corruption here. They may be legit, but they sure as hell run close to the line. I struggle to imaging what happens in a country considered to be 'actually corrupt'.
RachelF 14y ago
Same goes for Australia, there's a high level of corruption in the form of donations to politicians.
- chii 14y ago
  Theres no way to avoid the sort of "corruption" that you speak of - when an individual (or entity) has money, it can be translated to power thru the use of it. The difference is that at least donations are (supposed to be?) listed and tracable, and can be scrutinized if necessary. Compare it with the sort of corruptino you find in countries like india, and china, where you _have_ to give money to the official to get your paper signed to do somethign that ordinarily you should'nt have to (e.g., may be you'd like to open a car import/export business. you'd be paying quite a few visites to gov't officials with expensive gifts or unmarked bills).
nodata 14y ago
That's an index of visible corruption.
- sageikosa 14y ago
  Quibble: perceived corruption isn't the same as visible corruption, things that are disguised are visible, but one may not perceive them as the things they are, rather as the things they disguise themselves to be. Takes a little bit of epistemology to make sure that what you think you perceive is in fact what is really going on (how do I know what I know?). Corruption may be going on all around people, but they see it as "business as usual" or it's built into the "lawful" system, so isn't perceived as corrupt (though it is visible). Some people expect a certain amount of "low-level" (harmless?) corruption, so reserve their identification of corruption to particular visible or impactful events.
user-id 14y ago
Well, "next to no corruption" is still within bounds...

lancewiggs 14y ago

John Banks (along with Winston Peters) are the two politicians in NZ who appear to abide by their own set of values, doing whatever it takes to get elected. Essentially everyone else, especially from the National, Labour and Green parties are on a higher plane. We may not enjoy everything they say and do, but in NZ politics smells a lot less from personal ambition than elsewhere, and anything as small as a favour to a mate is seen and exposed as corruption. Our tolerance for corruption is extraordinarily low, which is why this case is causing such issues.