The prevalence of institutionalized corruption

The functioning of endemic corruption in the US and India

Having lived in four countries over the more than seven decades of my life I have concluded that corruption is endemic in all of them. I have lived in India for 22 years, Egypt for 4 years, Singapore for 9 years and USA for 43 years. I present my views on the differences in government tolerance and complicity in institutionalizing corruption between the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy.

Endemic corruption exists in different forms and enjoys different levels of acceptance and instutionalization in both countries. In the US corruption has been codified and legalized at the highest levels. The current proposed infrastructure bill has 2000 lobbying firms already active in Washington. Corruption has been accepted and given a new name, it is called “lobbying” in the US and it has been sanctified by putting rules around it but it is no less onerous than the every day petty corruption in India.

In the US lobbyists write all the legislation and woo legislators providing fancy dinners and expensive “fact finding” trips to exotic places in private jets to influence their decisions. The entire political system of corporate donations to fund elections and the vast amounts of money spent on elections is…