I think we should crack down on even the appearance of corruption in judges, prosecutors, FBI agents, etc. Does that mean we need to pay each of them so much that they are effectively unbribe-able?
Finally, it seems very strange to answer clear-in-aggregate corruption by paying the corrupt more money. I worry that if we aren't able to stem the corruption now, then giving our wealthy and corrupt rulers more money won't really help.
Why don’t we use the security clearance model? We don’t pay people that work in intelligence operations huge salaries, but we also don’t want them sell secrets to Russia. Any of them could be bribable. So we do extensive background checks and evaluate their finances, criminal record, foreign contacts, etc. for red flags. Then investigate, suspend, or revoke clearances based on any new red flags that come in. We could do a version of that for legislators. We won’t, but we could.
Sure, go ahead.
Less flippantly: Of course there's no law of physics forbidding it, but I believe the structural dynamics I described make this infeasible. I would be happy to see examples of societies that prove otherwise though.
> Finally, it seems very strange to answer clear-in-aggregate corruption by paying the corrupt more money.
Yes it is, which is why that's not really feasible either. Hence the catch-22.
I don't know what the solution would be, perhaps your suggestion isn't too bad and a good start.
The point is that you give them a generous salary and take it away if they misbehave. Every carrot is a stick in waiting.
They also get speaking fees, book sales, etc.
I don't care who you are, or what power you think you have, I don't see why society should tolerate your greed if you think you need or deserve more than that. That buys an extremely comfortable life anywhere you look.
I don't see why we should tolerate people seeking extravagant lives over comfortable ones. It's disgusting.
Seriously you're arguing a multi-millionaire needs a higher salary give your head a shake.
Otherwise why would you pay an important public servant shit (comparatively) while you pay the bankers who are a leech on our economy handsomely?
Post I was replying to was literally advocating for a higher salary for someone with a 9 figure net worth. As though MORE money would make her behave less greedy.
Absurd.
[1] You can't crack down on on public servants questionably but not clearly criminally making money on the side if everyone that's supposed to be doing the cracking down are also public servants who sympathize (more cynically, are in on the same gig) because they're also making a fraction of what their peers are making. And you can't pay your public servants more when the people are fuming at the individually arguable but clear-in-aggregate corruption that is rampant.