What accounts for public tolerance of government corruption?

[noise]

Some likely factors:

1) Corrupt media helps to keep the public ignorant. Instead of being a watchdog the media serves to conceal corruption from the public.

2) GOP media (i.e. talk radio) has vastly increased authoritarianism of citizens. This effort reached a peak in the Bush years where unconditional support for Bush was considered the height of patriotism. It continues to this day as GOP pundits consider it patriotic to support the use of torture.

3) The bar for government conduct is extremely low. Thus Bush could admit he wasn't on point before 9/11 and that was considered an acceptable explanation.

4) The abuse of national security classification. Because the public remains ignorant, it is more difficult to know for sure the extent of government corruption.

I don't mean to make this a partisan argument. I bring this up because it is disturbing to observe the coverage of the Obama administration's Afghanistan policy deliberation. IMO we don't even know what the real goal is in Afghanistan. Politicians aren't telling us the truth.

[stray cat]

1. If we would get rid of corrupt dems it would set a precedent

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. They are resigned to a corrupt system of government and see no way of changing it.

Many resort to a sort of passive resistance of no longer participating by not voting.

[RKP5637]

4. I think what you say is quite correct. Some feel it's hopeless and they feel helpless as there

is so much money behind the corruption. When you have revolving doors between government, corporations, lobbyists and mega-bucks, and the wealth of this country cornered and controlled by a few percentage points of the entire population, it is a considerable uphill battle.

And the political contributions required to fund these grossly expensive campaigns... and the profits the media rakes in... Additionally, does anyone know a poor, really poor congressman. Combined with that, we clearly have the industrial-military complex President Eisenhower warned of decades ago.

[EFerrari]

5. Everybody would prefer to believe the story that America

is special.

[The Magistrate]

3. People Understand, Sir, A Degree Of Corruption is Inevitable, Even Necessary

Corruption is to systems of rules as oil is to motors; a necessary lubricant, though a smoking mess if present in too great a quantity.

Starting from this understanding, people presume a measure of corruption in government, and tolerate it. The problem comes from their underestimating the degree to which the upper strata of society are corrupt and corrupted. A person who knows he or she would do a favor for a friend on the petty scale available to them in their lives does not appreciate the scale available at the top of the social pyramid. What continues to mystify me is how cheaply the politicians sell themselves, pricing themselves at no more than a few hundred thousands, usually, for favors that will reap millions, even billions, for those who pony up that chump change. They ought at least to demand a reasonable slice of the action....

[Sinti]

6. There are several explanations, I'm sure

and combined they might actually give a full reason. The government we have, from its inception, was designed to protect the monied interests, by the monied interests. They wanted to get rid of the king, not the court.

However, in modern times PR can take a large measure of the responsibility for the American public's tolerance of corruption, and all manner of other horrors. PR/propaganda is infinitely more powerful than people give it credit for.

In Century of the Self Adam Curtis tries to explain the how and why:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8953172273825999151#

This is the first part. The series has four parts total if you're interested.

[RB TexLa]

7. I've always been a believer in pretty good government. Often a little corruption speeds things

along. There is a reason it's called "grease." Sometimes things need a little grease to run better.