Oh yes, that's why I consider them the worst. They're so corrupt they legalised it and have conned organisations like Transparency International into believing that in the US, paying off politicians isn't corruption. That's the funniest part... they call it speech.
But the same "speech" in any other country is considered corruption and bribery.
You were able to point to the NZ example with Peter Thiel precisely because corruption is so rare there and there was a massive outcry about his case.
Paying off politicians in the US is illegal and it is prosecuted. As I mentioned, money buys you undue influence over politicians in the US - but that's true in every country. There is no reason to think the US is more corrupt than most countries, or the most corrupt in the world - as you've said. What evidence there is shows that US has unusually low levels of corruption relative to the other countries in the world.
The Transparency International index is based off of a survey of residents asking questions about perceived corruption. Paying off politicians, even if it were done as legal campaign contributions, would contribute to perceived corruption.
I know about the Peter Thiel example not because there was a massive outcry, I have basically no exposure to New Zealand news, but because I read about Peter Thiel and came across the story that way. I have no doubt that all I'd have to do to find an unending stream of money influencing New Zealand politicians is go to Google and search for it. But, I don't need to, because I already know that money is a corrupting influence worldwide - not just in the US.
> The Transparency International index is based off of a survey of residents asking questions about perceived corruption
That's very convenient for the US, and why it managed to avoid being #1 on the list.
In India a small businessman gets annoyed that he has to pay a $20 bribe to have an operating license issued, but it works. He will tell Transparency Intlt that bribery is rampant. In the US there is no bribe a small business owner can pay to make his business work because the multinational billion dollar corporation with offices on Wall Street, D.C, and every other major city has paid off the legislators and had them introduce laws that introduce a barrier to entry that no small business could ever scale. The US small business owner will honestly tell Transparency Intl that he's never had to bribe anyone.
Oh yes, that's why I consider them the worst. They're so corrupt they legalised it and have conned organisations like Transparency International into believing that in the US, paying off politicians isn't corruption. That's the funniest part... they call it speech.
But the same "speech" in any other country is considered corruption and bribery.
You were able to point to the NZ example with Peter Thiel precisely because corruption is so rare there and there was a massive outcry about his case.