At 10:26 AM 9/24/2004 +0100, you wrote:

>Corruption...
>
>On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 22:01:59 -0700, Padu wrote:
>
> > All of this sounds too familiar to me... (I'm from
>Brasil)
>
>I wonder why South America seems (from this side of the
>pond) to have corruption as a normal way of life?  I
>wonder if the Conquistadors had it as their way of doing
>things, or perhaps the natives used it to make their
>life easier under the invaders, and it's carried on
>since?
>
>It's certainly a problem where it occurs, because unless
>you have enough people in power who are prepared to go
>without the "extras" (something like Eliot Ness and the
>Untouchables) then it is pretty-much impossible to root
>out.
>
>I'm just really glad it isn't a problem here - if you
>tried to offer a bribe, say at the Passport office, you
>would be in a *lot* of trouble!  That's not to say it
>doesn't go on in other less official ways, particularly
>in business, but when (if!) it's discovered it is dealt
>with severely.
>
>Cheers,
>Howard Winter
>St.Albans, England

OTOH, I've heard people from countries where corruption is rife
complaining that there is no way to make things happen with money in
countries like the US/Canada/UK. For example, if you would like your
passport the same day rather than in a week (maybe to avoid a time-consuming
return visit to the office) and can't show proof it's actually
required, my officials will tell you to go away. A bit of baksheesh,
not really a significant sum to the person requesting the service, but
a nice 'tip' to the civil servant, could work wonders in some
countries. Same with C'sofA for setting up industrial processes, though
now the gov'ts have begun offering 'expedited' service (for an extra $100K
service fee). That's not corruption, but it costs a lot more!

One of our suppliers in China has a fellow at the local power station on
'retainer' to ensure that if power cuts are made that some other factory
gets cut. The reason it's worth it to them is that their process is such
that they lose an entire batch of material if they lose power.

Best regards,

Spehro Pefhany --"it's the network..."            "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com




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