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Comment by maerF0x0 | Hacker News Reader

i've said it for a decade. The united states is the most corrupt country i've witnessed (first hand), the difference is they've legalized their corruption. I think it goes down to the core of the culture which ultimately decided that money was the primary value of all choices, (as opposed to say, ethics, justice, religion, collective health metrics etc)

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> The united states is the most corrupt country i've witnessed (first hand),

Well, you haven't traveled much to other countries, I suppose.

Trump would look like an angel compared to other leaders in developing countries.

I've travelled plenty and US is still one of the scammiest, most corrupt places I've seen.

To the point where every American in this thread can't even imagine a place that isn't full of scams and lying and thinks everyone is the same.

The most bizarre behavioral thing is seeing all the incredible mental gymnastics to somehow explain away the corruption ("I'm sure they had good reason, they had to earn money!!!") when US people get scammed. No accountability, ever.

The 2025 corruption perceptions index scores it 64/100, well worse than Denmark (89/100) but better than Italy (53/100) and Venezuela (10/100)

Cool, but that's basically asking americans "do you think your country is corrupt?", which is useless, because most of them think that their corruption is just normal behavior.

It's more based on polling international business guys asking how corrupt do you it find dealing with country X.

We also don't bother with the minor league corruption so it's less visible. Bribing a cop on the spot is rare in the US, but Axon and Flock buying off town officials is just educational trips for potential customers.

This is almost exactly what I meant by my comment.

Citizens United, Biasing election outcomes through modifying the rules (such as jerrymandering, changing electoral requirements, making moves aimed at reducing voter turnout)

But I would include things like: the government buying data to avoid warrants, "asdf qwerty" as the required reason field for a warrantless data search, the Peloski index, Judges being invested in private prisons where they send those they sentence, dynamic pricing schemes that charge you more the more desperate you are etc.

You are lying. What you are describing is what I call "third-worldism" a mindset and way of living that's been imported over the last few decades. If you think the US is more corrupt than any rhird world country you're naive

Yeah, even if we are looking at some top developing countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, the corruptions at these countries are insane at every level compared to US, and I'm not even exaggerating.

But Americans and westerners visit these countries and they love it. They would be like wow the countries are paradise, so convenient, and etc.

Down to the Deep South, up to K Street and Wall Street, flying over the proverbial pork barrel to meet my Hollywood accountant. Imported? Maybe a century and a half ago. But methinks, no.

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