Country of shit, politics of whit, corruption etc. - Serious thread

[Personified Hatred]

Now, I'm from Italy. And here the politics' situation is this: there are many members of our parliament who are in collusion with Mafia; it was verified by a Corte di Cassazione's (I don't know what's the translation for this) sentence that one of our senators (Giulio Andreotti) has been a member of the Mafia until 1980; there are some private citisens - who have a clean record - (for example the association "Qui Milano Libera") who got together against corruption and are treated by politicians and policemen like criminals. And I could go on still a lot. Now, we're all from different countries, and fundamentally I want to ask you all a question: is the situation, in your countries, similar to ours?

 

[waif]

American politics blows.
Not quite like in Italy, but equally sucky.

 

[General Zaroff]

Our political system is complete shit.

 

[genocide roach]

this question is bound to attract alot of dumbasses who blow reality out of proportion.

a small percentage of corruption is unavoidable. however, things arent that bad here in the states. im sure we will get some people who think the feds are out to get them and that the government is a tax payer funded death machine though. and it will be fun to read those posts and laugh at them for being stupid
~gR~

 

[Matt]

lol I have family in Italy that are likely contributing to your problem

 

[genocide roach]

do your patriotic duty and slay them!
~gR~

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

All I know is your country should fix its postal system.

 

[cookiecutter]

Most of the corruption in the United States comes from lobbyists representing private groups paying politicians to support their causes, rather than the causes that would most benefit the American people.

 

[Matt]

do your patriotic duty and slay them!
~gR~

Nah, they send me money and nice things during the holidays

 

[Zephyrus]

Most of the corruption in the United States comes from lobbyists representing private groups paying politicians to support their causes, rather than the causes that would most benefit the American people...

...or the environment.


That and this country treats the rest of the world like its subjects. We've globalized culture, government and economic systems of so many other countries towards our own interests. And any resistance to this trend is addressed militarily, or otherwise we try to starve them into submission by alienating them from the rest of world economically.

 

[cookiecutter]

Yeah, the IMF forces countries to implement neoliberal economic policies in order that corporations can more easily do business there, often at the expense of wages and social welfare programs.

 

[Zephyrus]

And if that fails, we invade them and let the defense contractors do business there.

 

[Hubster]

...or the environment.


That and this country treats the rest of the world like its subjects. We've globalized culture, government and economic systems of so many other countries towards our own interests. And any resistance to this trend is addressed militarily, or otherwise we try to starve them into submission by alienating them from the rest of world economically.

Well said mate. And no, I won't be going on a tirade, just observing

 

[Zephyrus]

I guess it's a consequence of having a superficial culture. We imported most of the world's cultures throughout our history. And now we've processed that mix of culture into a Happy Meal and are throwing back into the world's faces.

 

[cholo11]

in your countries, similar to ours?

Well, we have the Tlatelolco Massacre, where some students supporting a movement where treated like criminals and killed, imprisioned, etc.

 

[Zephyrus]

I heard a story on National Public Radio today about all the upheaval in Italy. Apparently there are neo-fascists running rampant in Italy, and they're even selling photos of Mussolini at roadside booths. All this because of the conservative government regime.

 

[The Ozzman]

Is there a link where I can read about this?

 

[Einherjar86]

Most of the corruption in the United States comes from lobbyists representing private groups paying politicians to support their causes, rather than the causes that would most benefit the American people.

Very true. Good post.

I feel that America has one of the best political systems. Despite everything wrong with this country, you really can't complain about the economic freedom it provides. And not all of these lobbyists represent "conservative" factions. Popular opinion is a major player in politics, and many "liberal" lobbyists play off of this fact (please, let's not get into a debate over liberal and conservative; the truth is that both are just as corrupt). Emotional appeal is a huge factor in the media. The health care system in America has seen its fair share of burdens due to the relentless lobbying of certain liberal human rights groups that manipulate and contort the facts to serve their own ends. There are documented cases in which lobbyists coerced courts into passing judgments that ultimately proved to have a negative impact on this country's health care system.

I'm not condemning such lobbyist groups or saying I'm against them. I only want to show that there is no "good guy" in politics. Both sides are equally manipulative and corrupt.

 

[TheAnonymous]

Every country has corruption in it, but from what I know Italy is one of the most corrupt countries in the western world.

And I agree that there's no "good guy" in politics. There's only the lesser of evils. Just like democracy. It has a shitload of problems, but it's still better than any other option. The main problem is that the it has become ok for people in government or parliament to accept bribes. They think that if "everyone" does it they can do it too.
Right now my country is really suffering from this corruption. There's an investigation going on on our Prime Minister (!) who is suspected to have recieved lots of money as bribe from some millionaire. It's just horrible that it happens, especially by people so high up.

 

[Hubster]

After being in Indonesia, and hopefully returning in a few months, I've come to realise that the characteristics mentioned in this thread, chiefly by Zeph, are not limited to the US. It's the western world as a whole.

As much as I bag the US, when I got back home to Australia a few weeks ago I was fucking disgusted, and still am, by almost everything I saw around me. Captialism is truly fucked, but I guess I don't have too much of a choice in it all, it's what I've been born into and the way of life that I know... however, I am starting to consider moving to a non-western country, and perhaps sacrificing many of the things in the Western world which I may feel reviled by, but rely upon, to perhaps live a somewhat more simple, and as I see it, a more enlightened life.

//awaiting flaming