Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread • Hacker News Board

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#191

Post by dimgl » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 3:09 AM UTC

Loughla wrote: post #54

yongjik wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's worse. It's not that the government doesn't care that the public hates it; it's more like the government is doing whatever it wants and half the public is going wild absolutely loving it. Well, maybe a bit less than half these days.

The half that supports this nonsense genuinely believes this level of corruption has always existed. They're just happy it's their team this time. I simply do not understand American politics.

I think this whole "that half" and "this half" thing makes it significantly harder to hold people in the government accountable. I know plenty of conservative people who think the corruption in the government is out of control.

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#192

Post by mjmsmith » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 3:10 AM UTC

Petersipoi wrote: post #136

rapind wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Trump tomorrow says communism is great, then every Fox news host, MAGA content creator, and MAGA bot would be extolling the virtues of communism. The republican house and senate would enable it, maybe with a small bribe here and there. There is no line. There is no integrity. It's just looting.

[flagged]

To be intellectually honest, please name a few open communists infiltrating the other party.

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#193

Post by mjmsmith » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 3:12 AM UTC

hackernud3s wrote: post #161

tstrimple wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine there had been no Nuremberg trials. The Nazis just got a slap on the wrist and almost immediately let back into politics as usual. That's how we got here. We're still fighting the remnants of the confederacy. Germany and Japan in particular purged most of those elements from their society. Here we built statues to the evil fucks.

Comparing MAGA to Nazis is a bit much, and I would argue that this kind of hyperbole is a better example of how we got here.

True, in the sense that right wing extremists apparently have no agency and no responsibility for their actions or beliefs.

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#194

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 3:12 AM UTC

chronc7403 wrote: post #63

chris_wot wrote: post #53

I’m not an American. Those not American are frankly gobsmacked that U.S. citizens voted the current President in a second time. You all literally saw what he did in his first term!

> You all literally saw what he did in his first term! Yeah, he stopped US military from defending other countries for free. Soft power doesn’t pay your rent/mortgage.

[deleted]

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#195

Post by hakunin » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 3:15 AM UTC

autoexec wrote: post #8

Corruption in the US isn't new, but it's never been done as openly as it has been recently. I don't think it's a good thing. It shows that the government isn't concerned about what the public thinks, which suggests that they believe they no longer have to be. That's not a healthy sign for what's supposed to be a democracy.

Saying “US corruption isn’t new” is a truism. There are probably isolated incidents, and many unproven theories, but everyone is quick to agree with this statement because it’s a common feeling everyone has now for some reason. The reality of corruption is likely much smaller and more boring than people think.

What we’re witnessing now is what should be called corruption. That corruption that everyone has been screaming for years. But finally real.

Remember, the job of these people’s propaganda is not to say that they’re better than the other side. It’s to say that they’re all the same. That’s it. And when you claim that this corruption is just a continuation of previous corruption, just bigger, and not a difference between essentially not having and having corruption (there’s always some small percentage of corruption, just like any crime) is essentially sweeping for them. It’s repeating their talking points.

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#196

Post by 0xDEAFBEAD » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 3:16 AM UTC

tw04 wrote: post #184

0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Around the world, at least eleven million people are imprisoned, either pre-trial or following conviction. Most sentenced prisoners will work while in custody ... ... Most countries’ legal systems, however, carve out an exception for prisoner-workers, permitting the state to require them to work—sometimes for no pay, but typically for very low rates of pay. There are, even so, multiple potential benefits to prison w…

The question isn’t whether prisoners work in other countries which I’m confident you know and dodged. The question is whether the prisons in Brazil are private, and are allowed to sell prison labor FOR A PROFIT, incentivizing both greater incarceration rates, and disincentivizing release. The answer is no, I’m not aware of ANY other country that allows a private organization to profit off the labor if people imprison…

You're moving the goalposts.

Your comment stated: "And does Brazil have their own 13th amendment that allows them to use prison labor as their modern slave workforce?"

The article I linked states: "Most countries’ legal systems, however, carve out an exception for prisoner-workers, permitting the state to require them to work..."

So my quote directly answers your original concern.

Your new concern is about private prisons. Here's a new quote from the article which addresses your new concern:

"Involvement by non-public entities in prison work can take many forms. In most countries including all three of Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the United States, for-profit companies operate entire prisons (or provide services within prisons) under government contract. Similarly, the operators of both public and private prisons in all three countries contract with buyers, equipping prison workshops and using prisoner labour to produce goods and services which go on to be sold beyond the prison."

(p. 15, emphasis mine)

So no, the US system doesn't seem to be especially unusual, according to this article.

You're welcome to decry this practice as inhumane, btw. I just don't think it is some sort of skeleton key which will help us understand every aspect of US politics.

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#197

Post by hakunin » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 3:20 AM UTC

shimman wrote: post #35

estearum wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well it’s almost certainly not just more open. But also more common and more intense. There is 100% absolutely no possible comparison to Trump’s personal acts of corruption in any prior White House ever.

Trump is bad, but please let's not excuse corporate neoliberal dems that are totally fine with insider trading, legalized bribes, and are quite proud that their consultant campaign workers get lucrative gigs at corporations/boards due to insider access. I mean we have people like Gillibrand that are openly in bed with the crypto industry while somehow decrying what Trump is doing. Feels like they're upset that Trump…

When I hear people making these claims (all unproven theories, or misrepresentation of what really happens), I want to know: what happened in democratic administrations that went in favor of a large corporate donor and against the public? Any specific example where they diverged, and a politician ruled in favor of the corp, and against their constituents?

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#198

Post by archonis » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 3:21 AM UTC

throw0101a wrote: post #15

Even before this new record high, in the previous ~15 years the average seemed to be around 75% (±), which seems… high? I would perhaps understand the US public thinking that (some levels of) government being "incompetent", but not corrupt. By some measure the US does seem to have 'decent' scores for perception of corruption: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index * https://www.transparency.org/…

I imagine having over a dozen political parties helps with this as well.

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#199

Post by doubleg72 » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 3:22 AM UTC

cucumber3732842 wrote: post #130

bigfatkitten wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The environment in the US is very diverse so why is it federally regulated to the degree it is? Because there’s relatively little need for diversity. Dumping toxic waste into river systems is as bad in Oregon as it is in Florida. Things that genuinely need local management (e.g. wildlife) can be managed locally.

You are ignorant of how much of what the federal agencies do is create rules and recommendations and best practices and then tell the states they don't qualify for grant bucks if they don't implement somme amount of all of it. This is where most of the dysfunction comes from, not the classification of what is or isn't a pollutant. Because this is how you get some water rich municipality in the southeast having to ado…

The irony of calling someone ignorant because they can't conceptualize how this fantasy world in your imagination operates...

Re: Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread

#200

Post by 0xDEAFBEAD » Sat, Sep 05, 2026, 3:24 AM UTC

otterley wrote: post #183

0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm anti-Trump. If you tell people "Trump is a corrupt asshole", that has a chance at convincing supporters to abandon him. If you tell people "the US needs a cultural revolution due to events from past centuries", that's what got him elected in the first place. A good general wouldn't voluntarily shift the battleground to a region where their troops are weak. Political persuasion is no different. The Democratic Part…

I’m generally aligned with your point, but I also don’t think the official position of the Democratic Party is that we need a cultural revolution, nor do I observe most Democrats feel that way. What I do see is media and politicians on the Right characterizing extreme positions held by a minority of folks on the far Left as though they are adopted by the entire Left, and that weak uncritical minds on the Right believ…

I think you're somewhat underestimating how effectively the far-left minority has scared others into silence. Anyways, I do what I can to push back against them when they say things which seem wacky to me, as in this instance.

Maybe I should work harder to make my actual views clear. I added a few sentences to the end of my original comment in this thread: "I don't think this is a slavery thing. Trump just sucks." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49572347