What happens when you have to go through a bureaucracy any time you want to accomplish anything? In Russia, all activity is so heavily regulated that the only way to get anything done is to bribe someone. A Levada Center poll of 1,600 Russians said they believed that “bribes are given by everyone who comes across officials” in Russia. Bribes are necessary to obtain better medical services, “buy” drivers licenses, pay off traffic cops, get your kids in the right school, dodge the draft or bury a loved one. Yeah, pretty much everything.
In America, we like to think that this type of thing doesn’t happen. It is true that Transparency International gives the US a Corruption Perceptions Index score of 7.5 (0-10, 0 being most corrupt). While not the best, it’s not as bad as Russia’s score of 2.2. But it seems obvious that the more we give anonymous bureaucrats power over every aspect of life, the more of a danger corruption becomes. Add to that the fact that we are now in a recession and temptations are high to ask for a little grease for the gears.
A troubling sign of this is that because of a recession induced reduction in revenue, rather than cut wasteful programs, many cities are making ends meet by giving out more fines and citations. While not technically bribes, the distinction is starting to get fuzzy. Do people just speed more during a recession? Obviously not. In fact, in many parts of the country, speed limits are actually intentionally set too low in an obvious attempt to generate more revenue. Also, the primary objection behind red light cameras is that cities intentionally shorten the time span of the yellow light so that more motorists are ticketable (damn the safety consequences). So I suppose that the difference is that instead of individual bureaucrats hitting you up for a little grease, you have the entire government, backed by a system of police, courts, laws and (least we forget) paperwork asking you for just a little bit extra in taxes that no one voted for. Whether you call it a bribe, a tax, a fine or a ticket, it essentially amounts to the same thing in the end — your money in the hands of bureaucrats.
