151–160 of 173 posts
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That doesn't make him wrong, though. If Britain were the most corrupt country, they would state it, not ask it.
We added the question mark last night. We do that sometimes when a title is controversial and we don't have a way of verifying or disproving it. Any resemblance to actual Betteridges is purely coincidental.
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What are some examples of democratic countries where corruption is low? Ask yourself why so many cabinet ministers retire and end up on the boards of large conglomerates that specialise in bidding for government outsourcing contracts, or why so many long-term viable agencies of government Doesn't this happen elsewhere too? Example - revolving door in financial institutions
Maybe Switzerland? Direct democracy (kind of) sounds like best bet...
And you may or may not have noticed, but most citizens don't seem to take the time to be up on the pros and cons for each and every provision of each and every piece of legislation that are debated today on the floor of parliamentary bodies.
In other words: it might solve what economists call the "principal-agent problem", but at a (potentially very high) cost.
A person who should not necessarily be considered a political system theorist once declared that freedom and democracy are incompatible. This may or may not be true, and for those pushing for democracy, maybe freedom is a non-issue from the start, but I think it needs to be at least considered whenever pushes for "moar democracy" come around.
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We added the question mark last night. We do that sometimes when a title is controversial and we don't have a way of verifying or disproving it. Any resemblance to actual Betteridges is purely coincidental.
"Britain is arguably the most corrupt country in the world"
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I think my comment pinpointed the contradiction at the heart of his logical argument; it was only acceptable if you don't believe in the rule of law.
Believing in the rule of law doesn't oblige you to believe in rule of stupid and illogical law.
I see this as an absolute. I don't really see how it can be otherwise.
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What are some examples of democratic countries where corruption is low? Ask yourself why so many cabinet ministers retire and end up on the boards of large conglomerates that specialise in bidding for government outsourcing contracts, or why so many long-term viable agencies of government Doesn't this happen elsewhere too? Example - revolving door in financial institutions
Singapore seems pretty low corruption. MPs get paid a ton here too.
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"Britain is arguably the most corrupt country in the world"
That's a much stronger claim. Arguably doesn't mean what it says; it's more like a slightly weaker plausible.
If a position can't even be argued, you necessarily must assert the opposite:
"Britain is not the most corrupt country in the world"
(or phrase it as a question and invoke Betteridge)
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Singapore seems pretty low corruption. MPs get paid a ton here too.
not at all true. Singapore is known for having draconian laws (such as no gum chewing) and it's government is high corrupted oligarchy. I've read about the previous leader Lee Kew that ruled with a iron first and died recently . He was the one that revitalized Singapore in the late 1970s to where it is today and its rampant corruption was an effect of his harsh rule and greed
...or if you are interested just google it and read about it somewhere else.
If Singapore were corrupt it would be more like Malaysia (it used to be a part of Malaysia). Instead Singapore is an economic miracle surrounded by hostile countries. The anti-corruption culture Lee Kuan Yew developed permeates every layer of society here. Try bribe a Singaporean cop and see how far you get. My brother-in-law works for the Land Transport Authority. He will not discuss the details of any up-coming projects with anyone, not even close family members, for fear that word will get out and speculators will take advantage.
Finally if you think the chewing gum law is draconian I can't really help you. It is completely inconsequential and I say that as someone who likes to chew gum. More worrying are the corporal punishment laws, lack of press freedom and civil rights violations (gays sex is still illegal for example) however 2 of 3 of these problems also exist in the USA today and 1 in the UK.
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Believing in the rule of law doesn't oblige you to believe in rule of stupid and illogical law.
It's an analagous moral hazard, though. Even if bringing a bank down threatens the banking system, it must be done otherwise banks act with impunity. It's little different with bankers and "stupid and illogical law" - if we rely on discretion for which laws we apply, then we're entirely corrupt. We must apply the laws we have and live with the consequences, otherwise we don't live in a lawful society. I see this as a…
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It's an analagous moral hazard, though. Even if bringing a bank down threatens the banking system, it must be done otherwise banks act with impunity. It's little different with bankers and "stupid and illogical law" - if we rely on discretion for which laws we apply, then we're entirely corrupt. We must apply the laws we have and live with the consequences, otherwise we don't live in a lawful society. I see this as a…
There wasn't a singpe mention of "bringing down banking system" here. Once again, you arguing without reading first.
This is the justification that sievebrain used for the selective application of what he considers to be poor laws.
I say we need to enforce poor laws too, because otherwise it's rule by men, not laws.
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Also british - Cameron's father (and probably Cameron, caught lying), non the less. EDIT Why the downvotes? Factually incorrect? Don't think so: http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/07/david-cameron-ad... You don't like it. Fine, but don't downvote it.
He ran a fund which was based in tax haven to avoid double taxation. Lots of funds do things like this. It's not corruption or criminal.