Walmart Pleads Guilty After a Decade of Bribes

Post by LanceH » Fri, Jun 21, 2019, 5:33 AM UTC

dreamcompiler wrote: post #147

Jaepa wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not an apologist for Walmart, kind of the opposite actually, but in a lot of places bribes are not seen as malicious or corrupt just unspoken rules. A friend of mine from Nepal said something along the lines of "bribes are just a lubricate to an intentionally slow and unorganized bureaucracy". Places like China, India, Vietnam, & Taiwan all have pretty well know backdoor policies of this. Its a bit old but https:…

The FCPA (the law Walmart violated) specifically allows such "lubrication" bribes, where you're basically just paying a lowly government official a small amount to do his/her job a little faster. The forbidden bribes happen when you pay a higher-level official to make a decision in your favor that they otherwise might not have made. Huge difference in the eyes of the law.

Post by blub » Fri, Jun 21, 2019, 5:45 AM UTC

mruts wrote: post #72

I live in Africa and pay bribes on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. It’s hard to do anything at all without bribes here, and I am certainly sympathetic of it. People who don’t have experience with 3rd world countriss often think it’s a big deal bribing someone. But it’s not, it’s a simple fact of life. I don’t really see anything wrong with a company doing it either. In fact, I kind of like paying bribes. Unlike i…

Post by paulajohnson » Fri, Jun 21, 2019, 5:51 AM UTC

LanceH wrote: post #161

dreamcompiler wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The FCPA (the law Walmart violated) specifically allows such "lubrication" bribes, where you're basically just paying a lowly government official a small amount to do his/her job a little faster. The forbidden bribes happen when you pay a higher-level official to make a decision in your favor that they otherwise might not have made. Huge difference in the eyes of the law.

I've worked somewhere that the policy was you don't pay bribes. You hire a local company capable of navigating the nuances of the local permitting process.

Post by hatboat » Fri, Jun 21, 2019, 5:54 AM UTC

pmiller2 wrote: post #109

zaroth wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Companies (even purely algorithmic ones) are not amoral because they are directly impacted by the ethical and unethical behaviors that they choose. So they are not “unconcerned” with the morality of their actions. Versus for example “technology” which is amoral, because it is itself a tool unaware of the purpose for which it is even being used. Of course companies are also not immortal, companies “die” all the time.…

.1% of EBITDA is a “cost of doing business” if it makes them .1% + X. Even if it doesn’t, it’s an annoyance. It doesn’t hurt any more than you or me getting a parking fine. You have to make it really, truly hurt the bottom line, because that’s the only language they speak.

Post by stickfigure » Fri, Jun 21, 2019, 6:11 AM UTC

tigershark wrote: post #146

salmo wrote: post #131

I'm sorry, It's an unpopular opinion to hold, but the overseas bribery thing is a ridiculous standard to hold. [These opinions are just mine, and while I have them as opinions I would never act on them as a representative of my company, not that I would ever have the chance, and I don't work for Walmart] Over the course of human history, bribery has been the norm. I would dare to say that today, by population, it is…

So, just to understand, would you be against prosecuting pedophiles that go abroad in a country where having underage sex is not a crime to rape children? Over the course of human history it was perfectly normal to have sex with underage people, so it seems a rather fitting comparison.