Will you just stop it with those inconvenient truths when you should be peddling reassuring lies? (Only kidding... )
It all depends on what one bases it on. Naturally, in a world where capitalism and so called democracy are trumpeted as the way to the fairest society, of course we will look at those poor old countries in, for example, Africa as "terribly corrupt" and say "oh, look at how much of a mess those countries are. They have only themselves to blame." etc, etc. And we will turn to our own country and say we have a wonderful, fair voting system and a free press, etc. Yet the majority of those poor old African countries is that a majority of them have been part of a large Western empires or colonial holds. When they were given independence by the wonderful and just Western nations those nations installed corrupt political systems and sets of officials that would ensure corrupt access to the resources in those countries. Let me give another example: Two people smoke marijuana publicly. They both perform the one, same action. One of them does it in a country where you can do that legally, another does it in a country where you cannot. One is a criminal, the other is not. Likewise, you have to look at what is good and right, and what is not. And you have to look at the level of impact on the world. I'll give one example on that. The revolving door in Britain. A politician can have a position of power in which he/she can facilitate the giving out of lucrative contracts or changing of law and then, when he or she steps down for the role, goes to work for the company or sector that has benefitted from those actions. Our regulations on that are absolutely shoddy and even when they are broken, the regulator is weak and takes no action. There are countless cases upon cases of this, even this year. And yet... as far as the stats go, there is no corruption there... no law was broken, no harm caused? And then you have to consider how much harm comes. London is the biggest financial centre in the world and, furthermore, is a centre point of the biggest web of tax havens in the world, having connections with the other tax havens to boot. The amount of money that flows through London is immense. Billions of units of corrupt, illicit, dirty money flows through. I'm talking about money from illicit arms sales, drugs, gangs, corrupt regimes and representatives hiding money and money being pilfered out of poor countries. This has a huge effect on the state of the world at large. Yet, because of our regulations, this is legal. We are not considered corrupt. Then take into consideration our global military actions. Are they corrupt? Are they justifiable? What impact do they have on the world? How many lives do they affect? A poor old, ropey country in Africa may be corrupt but it's blatantly corrupt and doesn't have that great an effect on the rest of the world. I could go on... So it all depends how you weigh it up. Furthermore, there's something you may have missed on Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transparency_International#Internal_scandals And the fact that Switzerland is one of the least corrupt countries on that list is laughable. The difference between my judgement and that list... mine is based on well founded morals. That list is based on criteria cooked up by corporates.
I didn't say he or the book are perfect. He has made a study and an attempt at exposing something and it's foundations. I think he does a pretty comprehensive job. You can always find faults in the works of writers and academics but most of what is in the book is undeniable.
I'm saying that if you take into consideration the effect on the world, the scope of that effect and the fact that law and regulation is set in such a way that would allow immoral activities to pass as legal, then yes. We are a population that have been given far more rights than other places in the world. That doesn't mean that we aren't equally taken advantage of.
That is a fair argument. Think you need to weight things a bit more though. Things like going against the government here won't mean you end up in a grave but you do make good points
That is a fair argument. Think you need to weight things a bit more though. Things like going against the government here won't mean you end up in a grave but you do make some good points
Bob you don't have to listen to me or anyone else but seriously think about it fella. Agree the Tories are part of the blame but they are only one part that makes up the whole thing. You need to incorporate more than just them.
Here is a picture of Michael Gove waring his QPR scarf to cheer you all up... please log in to view this image
tut tut what a terrible time the families must be having where do we send our thoughts and prayers Sinn Féin slam attacks on homes of Gerry Adams and Bobby Storey 14 July, 2018 - by Gerry Kelly Facebook Google+ Twitter Sinn Féin Policing and Justice Spokesperson Gerry Kelly has slammed those responsible for attacks on the homes this evening of Gerry Adams and Bobby Storey. The North Belfast MLA was speaking after two explosive devices, one of which caused damage to a car, were thrown tonight. Gerry Kelly said: “These were reprehensible and cowardly attacks on the family homes of Gerry Adams and Bobby Storey. Grandchildren were in the driveway of Adams' home minutes before the attack. “I would appeal for calm. These attacks are the desperate acts of increasingly desperate and irrelevant groups.”
