OK - this is good.
I wondered if the truth that I proposed was so self evident =

as to be not worth stating - but it obviously isn't.

So I asserted that it's an article of faith that corruption =

is bad, and now we are debating good and bad corruption, and =

how some clearly bad corruption can be 'winked at' because =

it achieves good ends. Or desirable ends. Or ends that we =

desire. The ends and the we's may differ from case to case, =

or between people in the same case, and we are off and =

running on an uneven playing field and trying to tilt it =

each to our own ends.

> Corruption is an important and necessary part of any =

> society.

Yes. It shows how far from ideal your society is and how far =

it has yet to go to get things right.

If we translate "important and necessary" into 'good and =

beneficial", which I wot is the intended impression from the =

above (maybe not) what are examples of such beneficial =

corruption in egh US society?

______________

> It's quite difficult to tell where the "good" corruption =

> ends and the "bad"
> corruption begins.

Terminally so. The only way to be sure is to root out the =

lot :-).

> It ensures the overly na=EFve do not reproduce extensively.

It may.
But you can be sure that that slant on the playing field, =

though it may make it seem level to you, certainly doesn't =

make it seem level to others. The blanket name for making =

the playing field less level for those who you decide do not =

deserve it to be level is 'eugenics'. It, like many other =

things, has a long and slippery slope. The acceptable end =

has hardly any perceptible slope to it at all, and you could =

just about stand on it and not notice that it was at all =

slippery.

>Not sure about this, though. In most modern societies the =

>reproduction rate
is rather disconnected from social success. I'm also not =

sure whether there
is any connection between reproduction rate and corruption =

(good or bad).

>> In a healthy society, corruption is constantly checked, =

>> weeded out, and
>> destroyed...

This requires you to defind "healthy" re-entrantly.
There are numerous societies which many would claim to be =

healthy while others would cringe at the suggestion. "The =

world's largest democracy" (no, not the US) is probably a =

good example of this.

> The "bad" part. And the limit between the "good" part and =

> the "bad" part is
constantly reevaluated.

Differently by different people. The nature of corruption is =

that the more successfully corrupt you are the more you =

opionion counts when reevaluating. this becomes self =

promoting after a while. Military dictatorships tend to be =

corruption by other means (and the same means).

_______

I'll stop there. Should be enough for now :-)


        Russell

-- =

http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist