A theory re: why leftists seem to be more prone to corruption.

Discussion in 'Political Science' started by Ming the Merciless, Nov 1, 2018.

  1. Ming the Merciless

    Ming the Merciless Newly Registered

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    After the snafus wherein the Democrats were tied to Hillary and lost, and the Brazilian leftists were tied to a guy who was literally running for President from his prison cell after being convicted of corruption and lost to a guy who has high praise for Pinochet, I was wondering a bit why leftists and socialists seem to be so vulnerable to corruption, which is what I attribute to them being unable to dethrone these kinds of candidates.

    It's generally clear that leftists dislike non-cooperatively owned businesses, business managers, landlords etc. It's also clear that doing those things effectively requires a different skillset than what the laborers may possess. So then it hit me. Whenever a place starts attempting this socialism thing, the businesses and operations that run more successfully are only pretending to be cooperatively owned. In reality, someone is acting as a manager and an elite behind the scenes. Due to the need for a pretense of socialism, his power is actually due to under the table dealings and is not due as much to overt and official status. It should be easy to extrapolate how this leads to strongmen and corruption.
     
  2. modernpaladin

    modernpaladin Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Those with more heart than sense have always been the pawns of evil. Its a simple thing to manipulate the over-emotional.

    The old saying 'control your emotions or they'll control you' left out the most important part- 'and they'll be used to control you.'

    Leftism in general is an uncontrolled emotional response. People who allow themselves to be led around by their emotions will easily be led around by those who appeal to them.
     
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  3. Splash Master

    Splash Master Banned

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    They're materialistic. Rightists are more national interest type people, leftists more "give me some free stuff". But then I suppose that gets mixed up with bleeding heart "give everybody in the world free stuff" type people.
     
    Last edited: Nov 1, 2018
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  4. Mr_Truth

    Mr_Truth Well-Known Member

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    Nixon
    Reagan
    Bush II
    Trump
    Cunningham
    DeLay
    Foley
    Ney



    If we put together the names of corrupt Republicans, the list would take multiple pages.
     
  5. Daniel Light

    Daniel Light Well-Known Member

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    Plenty of prison time racked up on both sides of this discussion.

    But I understand this thread is intended to be a conservative circle jerk so I won’t stand in the way of your little mastibitory climax.
     
  6. kazenatsu

    kazenatsu Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    lack of deontological values, moral relativism?

    Then there's the fact that a lot of politicians on the Left are former lawyers or career politicians trying to claw their way up rather than businessmen or old money...
     
    Last edited: Nov 3, 2018
  7. Mr_Truth

    Mr_Truth Well-Known Member

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    for people to concern themselves with leftist corruption in the face of all this right wing corruption and perversions is tantamount to suffering from cancer and concerning yourself with a touch of dandruff rather than dealing with the real issue
     
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  8. XploreR

    XploreR Well-Known Member

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    Good example to illustrate the voting behavior of Trump's base. :)
     
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  9. HeyGatov

    HeyGatov Newly Registered

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    Leftists are for big government, and big government facilitates corruption. That's why corrupt politicians tend to go to leftist parties. In Portugal there's a great example, of our ex-PM José Sócrates: he was a social-democrat all of his life, considered to be a right-wing party, but all of a sudden he switched to the socialist party. He then went on to be the mastermind behind the biggest corruption scandals in our country, and he's one of the big reasons why Portugal has such a high public debt at the moment. And the best part is that, if he wasn't in the socialist party, there was no way he could've done any of that, since right-wing voters opposed all the public spending he did and so he'd never have gotten very far with the plan in any right-wing party. Unfortunately, most people don't make the connection that more government = more corruption ALWAYS, and they keep voting for leftist parties while complaining about the rising corruption...
     
    Last edited: Jan 6, 2019
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  10. XploreR

    XploreR Well-Known Member

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    That's an interesting post considering that Trump's government is the record holder for increased spending in U.S. history. Trump is breaking all records for a national deficit. How does that fit into your theory?
     
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  11. Guy Brutus

    Guy Brutus Newly Registered

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    Are leftists more corrupt? I'm no lefty but corruption and bad government seems to be pretty universal
     
  12. XploreR

    XploreR Well-Known Member

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    Corruption & bad government are establishing new records in America under the current Trump regime--and that's NO LEFTIST GOVERNMENT.
     
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  13. Guy Brutus

    Guy Brutus Newly Registered

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    I'm not against you here...
     
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  14. Guy Brutus

    Guy Brutus Newly Registered

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    I mean... I'm not with you either per say.
     
  15. XploreR

    XploreR Well-Known Member

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    You must find your own path. :)
     
  16. Guy Brutus

    Guy Brutus Newly Registered

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    indeed
     
  17. xwsmithx

    xwsmithx Well-Known Member

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    Interesting analysis, but a few points...

    At least at the federal level, the right is no more immune to corruption than the left. It's split about 50/50, so it's easy for both sides to point at the other and scream, "corruption!" I sat and counted up all the convictions of federal office holders in the US from the Eisenhower administration to today and the numbers of Democrats and Republicans came out about the same. Now that number could have been a lot different if Democratic justice departments actually prosecuted Democratic office holders, but that's speculation. However, what's not speculation is what occurred when I counted the numbers of Democrats and Republicans who were convicted of crimes (mostly bribery) at the state level. That wasn't even close. Democrats outnumbered Republicans 3 to 2.

    While you're right about the different skill set, what you failed to notice is that most right-wingers manage to get rich before they reach office while most leftists only get rich once they are in office. This is partially why leftists are more susceptible to bribery than right-wingers, because they aren't rich already. However, right-wingers are much more inclined to look favorably on business interests, so they will let things slide for a little palm-greasing.

    The connection between the left and corruption is very tight because it's the left that makes corruption pay. If the government has little power (i.e., is right-wing), there's no reason to bribe a government official because he can't do anything for you (or against you). However, if the government is left-wing, you can't do anything without the government's approval, so greasing someone's palm is the only way to get anything done.

    Cute story about government corruption: African government minister visited his counterpart's office in Japan and marveled at the nice desk, fancy chair, and expensive clothes the Japanese minister had. He asked how he had managed to get all these nice things, and the Japanese minister pointed out the window and said, "See that highway out there?" Then he pointed at himself and said, "10%." The African minister said, "Aha! I see!" A year later, the Japanese minister visited the African minister's office, and was stunned at the opulence of the latter's office and clothes. "How?" he asked. The African minister pointed out the window and said, "See that highway out there?" The Japanese minister looked out but saw nothing but jungle. Turning back, the African minister pointed at himself proudly and said, "100%."

    p.s. Great handle, btw. Ming's one of my favorite villains.
     
  18. perdidochas

    perdidochas Well-Known Member

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    Both sides have corruption. There is no real difference between the two. That's why we need to take power away from the government as much as possible.
     
  19. Derideo_Te

    Derideo_Te Well-Known Member

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    Ironic projection given that both the BLOTUS and his supporters are contantly emoting rather than thinking anything through.
     
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  20. modernpaladin

    modernpaladin Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Referring to what exactly?
     
  21. Derideo_Te

    Derideo_Te Well-Known Member

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    The part of your post that I bolded!
     
  22. modernpaladin

    modernpaladin Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I'll rephrase.

    What has "the BLOTUS and his supporters" 'emoted' instead of 'thinking it through'? I'm looking for examples.
     
  23. Derideo_Te

    Derideo_Te Well-Known Member

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    Are you denying that your BLOTUS consistently uses negative fearmongering terminology in order to inflame the emotions of his supporters?

    https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/...f-them-ominous-from-donald-trumps-tongue.html

    Did your BLOTUS "think through" the ramifications of abandoning our allies in Syria?

    Did your BLOTUS "think through" the implications about LYING with respect to his ineffective "wall"?

    Did your BLOTUS "think through" the political impact of firing the FBI Director while he was investigating "the Russian thing"?

    Did your BLOTUS "think through" the damage he would cause to American farmers before he arbitrarily and capriciously imposed tariffs on China?

    Did your BLOTUS "think through" the harm he would cause by reneging in treaties?

    The list goes on and on and on...
     
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  24. modernpaladin

    modernpaladin Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Yes. “Something bad is happening” is not 'fearmongering.' Many of the things Trump is trying to fix are seen as 'bad' by the people who elected him. That's why they elected him to change them. If anything, he's being redundant.

    I'm willing to assume so. Can you explain why our allies would not be able to pull out as quickly as we can?

    'LYING' about what? The idea that a wall is ineffective is incredibly disingenuous. Most of the worlds controlled borders are protected by some sort of barrier that would qualify by any reasonable definition as a wall.

    I'm guessing he thought the same thing I did- that the troubles associated with firing him were less than the troubles associated with keeping him on. He was obviously biased and not serving the interest of The People.

    Its funny, I know a lot of farmers where I live and they all still love Trump. Isn't it possible this 'damage' has been greatly exaggerated by a biased media?

    Renegotiating treaties that are screwing us is not harmful... not to us at least, which is what the president should be concerned with.
     
    Last edited: Jan 9, 2019
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  25. Derideo_Te

    Derideo_Te Well-Known Member

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    :roflol:

    Thank you for proving my point!
     
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