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Comment by BehindBlueEyes | Hacker News Reader

is with jump or without jump corruption? Depends if the money goes to the person asking or to the center. If the person is paid to let keep people in line, and keeps the money, it is corruption. If it goes to the center, it's probably called a vip pass or so somewhere. Skip the line doesn't strike me as corruption as much as actually "purchasing" your driving licence, or being let through a checkpoint with fruit you're not supposed to bring from one island onto another to avoid spreading tree disease...

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Of course it's corruption. Most of the money goes to the boss of the center.

This happens on plenty of public offices (probably most). You need some permit to build something? You either pay or wait for years to get it, if ever.

Just read this comment on Reddit written by a Mexican:

> I built a manufacturing shop in Mexico, the area isn't zoned yet. This should tell you all you need to know, if any government official can find a way to get a "mordida" they will. I spent almost 10 grand in just bribes to get all the proper permits. If you get pulled over by the police, you're paying a bribe. A neighbor of mine had a pistol in his car. He paid almost 2 grand in a bribe to get released.

https://www.reddit.com/r/asklatinamerica/comments/1gpznln/ho...

Hell, 2 grand to get released from a felony is a steal!

Amusingly, I bet it also scales based on apparent wealth/income, so is a type of [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day-fine].

Even if the boss keeps the money, it may be tacitly part of his salary. Perhaps that motivates him to provide better service to the jump customers so they don't go to some other station and pay some other boss. This system might even work more effectively than one where the jump fee goes to the government. Even if it does go to the government, aren't you then bribing the whole government to get preferential service at the expense of non-jumpers? So I think it's morally a gray area.

The alternative isn't a jump fee that goes to the government. It's no jumping at all.

Maybe that is ideal, but they are plenty of official jump fees that we don't think of as corrupt. In super-non-corrupt New Zealand, we can pay extra for faster processing of resource consent applications, passport applications, and visas. We can also pay a fee for a chance in a random draw for enrollment in desirable schools. Criminals can pay money to their victims in exchange for a chance at a lighter sentence.

Corruption is incredibly poisonous to countries. It’s closely correlated with a lack of development and tends to be self-reinforcing.

It erodes trust in institutions, encourages the breaking of other rules and generally keeps poor countries poor, especially when it comes to foreign investment.

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