Corruption: Paralyzing Vice Or Inventive Social Self-Defense?
From the desk of George Handlery on Fri, 2012-04-13 10:24
Its omnipresence is what makes “corruption” as slippery as a freshly caught fish. We often become unaware participants because an innocent aspect is implied. This can make actions that open privileged opportunities not legally actionable and these are therefore not criminal. When I got my Swiss citizenship an official had to determine whether I am integrated. Due to assumptions he had reason to make in the light of my training, he skipped the obligatory questions about society and politics. Once he found out that I am a member of a local pistol club, being a participant himself, he visibly concluded that I “belong”. The case gets more complicated once other shared interests are exploited to pull the cart of a firm. For good reason, retired politicians are in demand as lobbyists. For the same reason, many countries limit their lobbying.
Bias By Principle
From the desk of George Handlery on Fri, 2012-04-06 10:05
Daily this writer consults more than ten papers and several magazines. Most represent “the mainstream”. That confirms that objectivity is a badge worn by mutual acclamation that makes the term into a camouflage for bias. What is bemoaned is not that most organs lean left. If that is admitted, then one can judge the product. Unfair is when the fare served belies the claimed neutrality. Many people believe that if it is printed it must be true. This trust can be undeserved and misleading.
Democracies live in a perennial pre-election season. So, glance at your average pre-election endorsements. Even if your paper might not approve of anybody to the right of Lenin, there will be a lot of pious objectivism at the end of which one of the leftist candidates gets the nod.
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