The wrong response to corruption

There have been a lot of wrong responses to the global and enduring problem of corruption. Many believe that severe punishment is the way to go, thus the cries for life in prison. Even though fear of punishment certainly helps, it is not a cure. In communist countries, remember, corrupt civil servants were often executed, but graft was much more widespread than in the West.

Others believe that to solve the problem, you need a force of "incorruptibles" at the helm of the country. The problem with this is that corruption tends to appear after elections. Everyone is honest when they're in the opposition for the very simple reason that they don't have access to the public coffers. We can only determine whether they are corrupt once they're in power and congratulate them for not being so after they have left.

The worst response to corruption is voting for politicians who...