Ready for a change

I can’t think that this comes as a surprise to anyone, but the world is becoming increasingly corrupt. So says a report by Transparency International, an organization that’s been tracking corruption since 1993.

At least 56% of people interviewed by TI globally believe their country is more corrupt now than in the past. And more than 50% of those in India, Afghanistan, Nigeria and Iraq say they’ve paid bribes, with the police being frequent recipients of the baksheesh.

Political parties top the list of perceived corruption: 80% think they’re rotten. Only surprise there is that the percentage isn’t above 95%. Religious groups don’t fare well, either—53% think they’re corrupt. Not what Buddha, Jesus or Mohammed probably had in mind—being poster boys for dishonesty and fraud.

The bribery factor is interesting: one in four surveyed reported having paid a bribe in the past year, many of which were to speed up the workings of government or to get services the citizens were already legally entitled to.

In the US, of course, most bribes are likely not to appear in this survey, as they are paid in the form of campaign contributions to elected officials, who’ve made the payments deductible from business taxes so as to ensure the money keeps flowing in.

That would probably explain why only 5% in the US report having paid a bribe.

Frankly, while not surprising, this news of the institutionalizing of corruption in the 21st Century is discouraging. Mankind certainly isn’t living up to its hype of working towards perfection.