Third Saturday Seminar 2015-2016
Return of the Elders, Unleash your Wisdom
“Session 08 – Corruption”
A discussion: More and more corruption is being exposed and some corrected.
Will the world get better?
Saturday, 21 May 2016 9:30AM til Noon
Room B-102, Lone Star College – Montgomery
3200 College Park Drive – Conroe, TX – 77384 – 936.273.7000
In 2003, when I first wrote “Economics 000, First Principles” I made this observation:
Corruption and crime. When officials are corrupt, it always distorts the market, and will discourage honest buyers and sellers from participating. Sellers are notorious for bribing officials. Often officials solicit bribes. Since civil servants are often paid far less than their value, many cultures have come accept bribery as a way to make up the difference. This is a bad deal, regardless. As it is when the nation’s elected executives and elected legislators are beholding to any interest other than that of the citizens. “Economics 000, First Principles”, © 2003-2016 Curt Gibby
Well, it’s no surprise that various forms of corruption that has been with us since pre-Biblical times is still with us and that it has many, many faces. BUT, perhaps is there hope? I think so, if we can keep it going.
Some interesting things have been happening. For example:
FIFA has removed some of their worst offenders from the top of the organization.
In the tradition of WikiLeaks, the “Panama Papers” have embarrassed a number of high level tax scofflaws.
Even with all its problems, the government of Brazil has been able to claw back $125 million from foreign bank accounts, some from plea bargains and others have been arrested and or are under investigation.
The Speaker of the New York State Assembly is going to jail for 12 years for collecting millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks.
Speaking of politics, everyone bemoans the painfully obvious role of money in getting elected to public office. A glaring example is: Once in office, a Member of Congress is expected to spend 30 hours a week, out of his office and in a phone bank, raising even more money or suffering the ire of their respective political party. Of course, they are then not representing their constituents.
Not that we are even close. The “CleanGovBiz” program of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) offers these statistics regarding the current scope of global corruption:
“Corruption is one of the main obstacles to sustainable economic, political and social development, for developing, emerging and developed economies alike.
Overall, corruption reduces efficiency and increases inequality. Estimates show that the cost of corruption equals more than 5% of global GDP (US$2.6 trillion, World Economic Forum) with over US$1 trillion paid in bribes each year (World Bank). It is not only a question of ethics; we simply cannot afford such waste.” “The rationale for fighting corruption” CleanGovBiz, OECD.
It seems that at the same time many governments are trying to claw back hidden funds from foreign accounts; they turn a blind eye to the “offshore havens” that exist in their own countries such as our states of Wyoming, Nevada and Delaware.
Transparency International has for years issued a CorruptionsPerceptions Index.
We are not so bad at the moment. We are ranked 16 out of 167.
For visual comparisons go to: Corruption Perceptions Index 2015
You might note the least corrupt countries have the best quality of life and have the lowest rates of unemployment. Hopefully, they will not be overwhelmed by the refugees from the broken countries which are very corrupt.
We will discuss it Saturday.
As usual, our world is still in “interesting times”.
We will start the session with Current Events (Distractions)
I have been politely requested to not bring up politics for awhile, and I shall do my best to honor it. Anyway, the whole 24/7 news cycle has been taken over by:
“Potty Mouth”– where is it legal to park your private parts?
Transgendered and other folks with sexually non-orthodox orientations have been around a long time; for centuries depending on your definitions and have found a way to find privacy even in public restroom facilities without starting a civil war. They are usually not obvious to most of us who are busy taking care of our own business, anyway.
Except with the possible exception of women who used to occasionally jump the lines to the men’s rest rooms in the old Astrodome during football games because of the shortage of stalls in the women’s restrooms. I never heard about any arrests!
For a more serious discussion may I suggest reading:
“The next battleground for LGBT rights” in the L.A. Times from March 7, 2016”
Early voting for primary runoff elections is this week 7AM – 7PM until Friday.
The runoff election itself is Tuesday, 24 May 2016
The general election will be Tuesday, November 8, 2016 Will you be ready?
Third Saturday Seminars – Spring 2016
6 Sessions
To refer to an ancient Chinese saying, “our world is in interesting times” and individual citizens are assaulted with a blinding array of propaganda from every conceivable source. The Third Saturday Seminar is about demystification of what is going on around us. Time will also be spent on current events. Meets 1/16, 2/20, 3/12, 4/16 (2nd Sat), 5/21 and 6/18. Meets on Montgomery Campus in B102.
15216 S 1/16-6/18 9:30 a.m.-Noon B102 Gibby
LSC-Montgomery
3200 College Park Drive, Conroe, TX 77384
ALL- Montgomery Links:
Academy for Lifelong Learning: LSC-Montgomery
http://www.lonestar.edu/all-montgomery.htm
Steven Gorman
Program Manager, Academy for Lifelong Learning,
LSC-Montgomery 936.273.7259
steven.gorman@lonestar.edu
Registration
How do I register for a class? You can fill out a registration form and submit it to ALL:
· In person: LSC-Montgomery (3200 College Park Dr., Conroe, TX 77384), Continuing Education/ALL Office Building E (Room 205)
· Phone: 936.273.7446 ,Fax: 936.273.7262
Reminder for ALL members:
Please let ALL know if you change your address, phone number, or email. Call 936.273.7446 or email: MCALL@LoneStar.edu.
“Some part of our being knows this (the universe) is where we came from. We long to return. And we can. Because the cosmos is also within us; We’re made of star-stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.” Carl Sagan
See you Saturday!
Curt Gibby, Director