Global survey: Majority feel corruption has worsened, think governments can't fix it

I was unsure where to post this, mods please move if I am wrong for putting this in the Gray Area.

ATSer's it's my own personal feeling that majority on this site view America as the most corrupt. Though there are the few, myself included that postulate that it's not just America but all government facilities are corrupt. I found this, and yes it's CNN a MSM but a found the article interesting none the less so I brought it here for discussion:

Global Survey (Source)

The protests that have raged globally in the past few months, from Turkey to Brazil, to the ongoing turmoil in Egypt, have appeared to share a common root: a widespread feeling of government mismanagement and cronyism.

A new report from the international anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International finds that mistrust in governing institutions extends beyond those countries, and beyond the protests in the streets.

According to a survey released Tuesday, a majority of people across the globe feel that corruption has worsened in their countries, and that their governments are ineffective in combating it.

According to the survey, more than one in four people reported paying a bribe in the past year.

Turkish police disperse protest at Istanbul square
Vatican official arrested in alleged $26M corruption plot
Brazil: 250K protest against govt corruption
In its "Global Corruption Barometer," the global civil society organization surveyed 114,00 respondents in 107 countries.

The survey asked respondents to rate the corruption level of their countries' institutions on a one-to-five scale, in which five meant "extremely corrupt."

Political parties were considered to be the most corrupt globally, with an average score of 3.8 out of 5.

"As political parties require money in order to run their campaigns, one of the big corruption risks for political parties is how they are funded," Transparency International wrote in its report. "The interests of the people and organizations that fund political parties can have a large influence on the actions of those parties."

Political parties fared worse in the United States, where the 1,000 respondents surveyed gave them a corruption score of 4.1.

Globally, police came in a close second, with a corruption score of 3.7. Nearly a third of respondents who came into contact with police reported having paid a bribe.

On the other end of the scale, religious organizations were considered the least corrupt of the institutions in the survey, with a corruption score of 2.6. That varies from country to country, however, and in Israel, Japan, Sudan and South Sudan, religious organizations ranked among the most corrupt institutions.

According to the report, the media industry had an average global corruption score of 3.1, making it the ninth most corrupt of the 12 institutions in the survey. In the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Egypt, it ranked number one.

And while 53 percent of respondents felt corruption had increased in the last two years, a majority also believed that their governments couldn't fix the problem. According to the report, 54 percent of respondents view government as ineffective in combating corruption, up from the 47 percent recorded in Transparency International's 2010-2011 survey.

"When there is widespread belief that corruption prevails and that the powerful in particular are able to get away with it, people lose faith in those entrusted with power," Transparency International said.

In the survey, 54 percent of respondents felt that governments largely run for the benefit of self-interested groups. In the U.S., 64 percent said the government is run by a few big interests, compared with 5 percent who felt the same in Norway, and 83 percent in Greece.

The survey wasn't all bad news. Nine out of ten respondents said they would act against corruption, and two-thirds of respondents asked to pay a bribe said they refused.

I found the whole article intriguing and personally feel the numbers are far worse than what was posed, I would like to hear from everyone on ATS there own thoughts.

Are the world Governments so far corrupt that this can't be fixed?

If it can, what do you postulate is a solution?

Finally, It made me as a American feel a little better that other countries view the same orginizations as corrupt... Not that America isn't a shining example of the corrupt elite...

Well... There you have it... Have fun and I look forward to reading the resonses~

reply to post by sulaw


One question...

How could the governments of the world possibly "fix it"

IF they are the cause of it?

reply to post by Akragon


One hell of a scenerio that would never be possible that's for sure... The cause of the problem cannot be the solution... In my opinion...

So what would be a solution?

reply to post by sulaw


Lose all forms of government... somehow

They're only in it for themselves and others with the same mind set...

Government is supposed to serve its people... but they only serve themselves

reply to post by Akragon


It's a sticky scenerio that's for sure, I agree where your going but ultimately doing so would set us back for a bit and all hell would break loose. At least how I'm looking at it.

My problem, here's a survey showing that most countries view there government as corrupt yet everyone sits idly by as if the problem would magically fix itself...

Most disheartning.

Originally posted by sulaw
reply to post by Akragon

 

It's a sticky scenerio that's for sure, I agree where your going but ultimately doing so would set us back for a bit and all hell would break loose. At least how I'm looking at it.

My problem, here's a survey showing that most countries view there government as corrupt yet everyone sits idly by as if the problem would magically fix itself...

Most disheartning.

We've been stuck in paradigm for hundreds of years... We as a society literally have no idea what other option we have other then the current form of government... a.k.a slavery.

The only way we can break free from it is IF everyone in our country bands together to show we've had enough...

The problem is we would need everyone.... and that will never happen

reply to post by Akragon

The problem is we would need everyone.... and that will never happen

A unlikely scenerio for sure. Or is it? The gov't has planned for a mass civillian uprising, atleast in heinz site it looks like it from the storage of the major ammo cache's and gun purchases.

The general public in America (I forget where) was a suvey showing 63% of American dont' trust the gov't...

A scenerio unlike any other would have to play out and drive the preverbial "nail" in... That scenerio is was i'm not so sure about...

If something like that happened in America, in my opinion it could go either way... The fall or the gov't as we know it or demise and killing of millions of American's...

It's a scenerio I dont' like thinking about honestly... For very good reasons...

Originally posted by sulaw
reply to post by Akragon

 

The problem is we would need everyone.... and that will never happen

A unlikely scenerio for sure. Or is it? The gov't has planned for a mass civillian uprising, atleast in heinz site it looks like it from the storage of the major ammo cache's and gun purchases.

The general public in America (I forget where) was a suvey showing 63% of American dont' trust the gov't...

A scenerio unlike any other would have to play out and drive the preverbial "nail" in... That scenerio is was i'm not so sure about...

If something like that happened in America, in my opinion it could go either way... The fall or the gov't as we know it or demise and killing of millions of American's...

It's a scenerio I dont' like thinking about honestly... For very good reasons...

Its something that will never happen...

Like I've said, we would need everyone... Meaning the military as well...

In the event of a civilian uprising we would literally see the people of the nation turning against their own...

Soldiers are trained to follow orders not follow their own sense of morality...

The only way it "could" happen is if all of the soldiers of your country woke up and realised they fight for rich men in suits.... not their own country

We would need EVERYONE...

The best way to take away their power is to take away what gives them power... They sure as hell will never pick up a gun and defend their own...

Remember...... government foundation is the rich ruling over the rest... the government's of the world greedy are cowards, standing behind their money

Never gonna happen brother...

reply to post by Akragon


I see your poitn Akragon. I'll make sure I leave some glimmer of hope alive though... Even as unlikely as it is...

I'd say the government structure as it is today just like the economic structure is way past its due.

The system is outdated, and hasn't been up to par with todays level of understanding of technological capability, sociology, psychology, biology and how systems should be designed to achieve harmony through balance between humans and nature.

Although I have absolutely no hope whatsoever that the government can fix all this, being one of the sources of the problem, there are alternative systems that do not repeat the mistakes of the past, and I'm the proponent of mainly one of them, that is a Resource Based Economy if any of you heard of it.

www.thezeitgeistmovement.com...

reply to post by The_Oracle


Ohh ya~ I'm a big fan of the movies though I haven't seen this link for the official movement... I will definately take a gooses gander! Thank you for posting that~

Upon reading the preface... I now know this movement has nothing to do with the movies.... This is a long read... But I will definately read it~!

The only way it "could" happen is if all of the soldiers of your country woke up and realised they fight for rich men in suits.... not their own country

The idea of dirty money was born in the 4th century when the Catholic Church got into investment banking. It would be more than a thousand years before men stopped wearing dresses and robes and began presenting themselves in slacks, coats and ties.

The idea that governmental corruption was born by rich, white men in America in Italian made suits is somewhat far fetched.

reply to post by spooky24


I definately see your point spooky, so do you think it's a possibility? I'd like to believe so, that our boys in blue and camo are not as naive as most interpret them to be, as they are just doing there job and "yes" we have corruption that is rampant worldwide but if something so devastating happened would you think they would fight for the home team (civillian americans) or turn against?

It's a scenerio that I can see playing out several ways, as I can see where Akragon is comming from. Yet I keep that glimmer of hope alive...