Political Corruption is the dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power. The use of their influence and position to extract, accumulate wealth and maintain their hold on power.
Can government or political corruption ever be eliminated? I do not think so. Since political corruption is frowned upon by all who are not the benefactors of the corrupt politician, what should we do? Prosecution for political corruption is not easy to come by. Stolen wealth is usually well orchestrated to prevent indictment.
There are two ways that extracted wealth are dispersed or invested by the corrupt politician.
- They spend or invest the money within the city, province (state), or country he/she is from.
- They spend or invest their ill gotten fortune in a different country.
If you have a politician in your area that falls into the category of #2, then you have to get rid of him/her. The politician that falls in the #1 category is actually investing into the prosperity of his country. That is hard to swallow, but that is a fact.
Here are two examples:
- This politician from the south spent the majority of the money extracted through corruption within his own province. He built hotels, motels and resorts which later helped build tourism and helped boost the economy of the area. Indeed he was a thief, but the residents benefited from his plunder.
- This other politician is so charismatic and well liked by the local families. But he spent the majority of the ill gotten money extracted through corruption by purchasing apartments and houses in a different country.
Both of the above politicians are corrupt. Keep the first one and get rid of the second.
As a prime example: The United States of America became a great country because most of the money extracted from corruption were re-invested in the USA. But as the world economy grew and international transactions became easier, the corrupt politicians started investing outside of the United States and hence the money was siphoned out to different countries.