a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by kleinbl00

Sarah Chayes makes the point in Thieves of State that through the long lens of history, democratic/communist/totalitarian/libertarian objectively matters less than the level of corruption in government, and that the underlying theme in all scholarly advice to rulers mostly boils down to "don't be corrupt."

Lukashenko rose to power by promising to crack down on corruption. So did Trump ("drain the swamp"). So did Duterte, so did Modi, so did AMLO. I think the thing that distinguishes Mexico is that crime has been rampant for decades - I have a friend whose ex-husband was ransomed twice and she was literally following Vincente Fox around with a mic and headphones for a living. Where Mexican anti-corruption is likely to influence things is in the complicity of law enforcement - Iguala is a tragedy, Iguala committed by cops is a scandal.