Someone I know was recently arrested in an African country where he lives. Someone had uncovered a major kickback scheme being run by a relative of a cabinet-level politician, and this person was caught in the crossfire. He wasn’t involved in any real way, but he does some graphic design work and had made pamphlets or posters or something for a client that ended up being used as part of this crime. So, he and a lot of other people who were only peripherally involved like this were arrested. The politician didn’t want this scandal in the news, so he made sure that the crime went away. But, that still left the guy I knew locked up in jail. Even though there was now no crime, the cops weren’t going to release him from jail until they received a bribe. A family member of his wired money to Africa and then another family member hand carried that bribe to the police station so they would let him go.
Developing countries have situations where regular people get to, or have to bribe cops, officials, etc. just to get by day to day. But, it doesn’t mean that that’s where the corruption stops. They have all the same bribery of the president, prime minister, chief justice, etc. that you get in say the USA. But, there’s also corruption all the way down. It’s exhausting, and the rich people / corporations still always win.
Someone I know was recently arrested in an African country where he lives. Someone had uncovered a major kickback scheme being run by a relative of a cabinet-level politician, and this person was caught in the crossfire. He wasn’t involved in any real way, but he does some graphic design work and had made pamphlets or posters or something for a client that ended up being used as part of this crime. So, he and a lot of other people who were only peripherally involved like this were arrested. The politician didn’t want this scandal in the news, so he made sure that the crime went away. But, that still left the guy I knew locked up in jail. Even though there was now no crime, the cops weren’t going to release him from jail until they received a bribe. A family member of his wired money to Africa and then another family member hand carried that bribe to the police station so they would let him go.
Developing countries have situations where regular people get to, or have to bribe cops, officials, etc. just to get by day to day. But, it doesn’t mean that that’s where the corruption stops. They have all the same bribery of the president, prime minister, chief justice, etc. that you get in say the USA. But, there’s also corruption all the way down. It’s exhausting, and the rich people / corporations still always win.