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talkpoliticsIt seems that hardly anything is possible to happen in Greece without paying a bribe. Or a 'tip', as they call it. Transparency International (Greece) reports that the average Greek family pays 1700 Euro in bribes annually. The T.I. chairman for Greece, Costas Bakouris admits that Greece "has always been a corrupt society". The organization keeps an annual ranking about the corruption index, and Greece currently ranks 78th out of 180 countries. This affects all aspects of society. Whoever does not pay a tip, has no chance of having anything done in Greece.
There is actually a word for 'tip' that the Greeks are using: fakelaki. It literally means a 'small envelope'. The fakelaki is an inseparable element of the Greek everyday life. When you go to the doctor, or the car service, or the state bureaucrat, they'd require fakelaki in order to either turn the other way in case of some form of fraud, or accelerate some procedure especially for you. If you don't pay the tip, you're lost. You'll be forced to wait for ages to have anything done.
Everyone in Greece knows which "service" costs how much exactly. Everything has its established fees. The foreign investors in Greece are well aware that without paying a bribe, their business has no chance. In this case the fakelaki depends on the size of the investment. Naturally, the biggest tips are paid for getting access to the biggest state errands.
In the documents of the investors, the amounts they give for bribery are featured as "commissions". For instance, the German heavy industry is a very active participant in this scheme. For example, Der Spiegel reported about a large German automobile producer who had to pay enormous fakelaki in the recent years in order to be able to import cars to Greece.
Siemens is the most frequently mentioned name when it comes about bribes given by German companies to Greek companies and politicians. There is a rumour that the socialist party PASOK and the conservative party New Democracy have made a lot of money out of the Siemens ambitions to invest heavily in Greece.
Ultimately, the ones who lose from all this are again... the ordinary people. Because the investors then go and try to compensate for their "fakelaki" expenses through artificially pumping up the prices of their products.
Every time some corruption scandal breaks out in Greece, the same old scenario unfolds. Whenever a minister is found to have participated in corruption, the case is immediately transferred from the justice system to Parliament, where the respective investigation committee is formed shortly, and... that's all. The result is very telling: so far not a single corrupt Greek minister has been convicted. Not one.
As in many other places, especially around my corner of the world, corruption has entangled in its webs all politics, all justice and the whole society. The three powers work extremely clumsily and ineffectively, court cases are being brought into a dead end with no conclusion in sight. The very few investigators and prosecutors who still remain not corrupted, are loaded with work.
Besides, the finance laws in Greece are such a mess that even the most experienced financial investigator would wave the white flag after a while. Various industrious lawyers constantly find loopholes in the law and get their clients clean out of any prosecution. Out of the top 450 corruption cases in the recent years, not a single one has been brought to a definite conclusion.
And one more serious problem: the Greek media are far from playing the role of the "fourth power" that they ought to be having. They are in the hands of powerful entrepreneurs, and many journalists are attached to various political parties or private companies through contracts. There is a total lack of investigative journalism that could overcome the screaming aggressiveness of the tabloids and the partisan mouthpieces. I'm sure many of us could find a lot of parallels with their respective countries - at least that's the case with me. What about you?
There is actually a word for 'tip' that the Greeks are using: fakelaki. It literally means a 'small envelope'. The fakelaki is an inseparable element of the Greek everyday life. When you go to the doctor, or the car service, or the state bureaucrat, they'd require fakelaki in order to either turn the other way in case of some form of fraud, or accelerate some procedure especially for you. If you don't pay the tip, you're lost. You'll be forced to wait for ages to have anything done.
Everyone in Greece knows which "service" costs how much exactly. Everything has its established fees. The foreign investors in Greece are well aware that without paying a bribe, their business has no chance. In this case the fakelaki depends on the size of the investment. Naturally, the biggest tips are paid for getting access to the biggest state errands.
In the documents of the investors, the amounts they give for bribery are featured as "commissions". For instance, the German heavy industry is a very active participant in this scheme. For example, Der Spiegel reported about a large German automobile producer who had to pay enormous fakelaki in the recent years in order to be able to import cars to Greece.
Siemens is the most frequently mentioned name when it comes about bribes given by German companies to Greek companies and politicians. There is a rumour that the socialist party PASOK and the conservative party New Democracy have made a lot of money out of the Siemens ambitions to invest heavily in Greece.
Ultimately, the ones who lose from all this are again... the ordinary people. Because the investors then go and try to compensate for their "fakelaki" expenses through artificially pumping up the prices of their products.
Every time some corruption scandal breaks out in Greece, the same old scenario unfolds. Whenever a minister is found to have participated in corruption, the case is immediately transferred from the justice system to Parliament, where the respective investigation committee is formed shortly, and... that's all. The result is very telling: so far not a single corrupt Greek minister has been convicted. Not one.
As in many other places, especially around my corner of the world, corruption has entangled in its webs all politics, all justice and the whole society. The three powers work extremely clumsily and ineffectively, court cases are being brought into a dead end with no conclusion in sight. The very few investigators and prosecutors who still remain not corrupted, are loaded with work.
Besides, the finance laws in Greece are such a mess that even the most experienced financial investigator would wave the white flag after a while. Various industrious lawyers constantly find loopholes in the law and get their clients clean out of any prosecution. Out of the top 450 corruption cases in the recent years, not a single one has been brought to a definite conclusion.
And one more serious problem: the Greek media are far from playing the role of the "fourth power" that they ought to be having. They are in the hands of powerful entrepreneurs, and many journalists are attached to various political parties or private companies through contracts. There is a total lack of investigative journalism that could overcome the screaming aggressiveness of the tabloids and the partisan mouthpieces. I'm sure many of us could find a lot of parallels with their respective countries - at least that's the case with me. What about you?
(no subject)
Date: 10/10/11 13:42 (UTC)If you are a 'member' of a mega-church, it is EXPECTED you tithe 10%. Indeed they want a contract and an auto withdrawal system or..you can't participate.
How do they keep you from participating? Well, every event has a quota. Ski trip? Sorry. Want to sing in the choir? Well, there is a volunteer spot scrubbing pans at the downtown soup kitchen ministry, etc.
Of course, you then get seated by the ushers depending on your financial status with the church. They literally have 'cheap seats' but, you know, they would just prefer you go 'worship at a poor church'.
A lot of political influence can be purchased through the moneychangers known as The Christian Values Leadership.
(no subject)
Date: 10/10/11 15:11 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 10/10/11 16:13 (UTC)Greece will no longer be democratic
Date: 10/10/11 15:13 (UTC)OTOH A bribe, well, is the only way to ensure any service. More then that, a bribe convinces somebody to perform a service they are otherwise reluctant to perform. That service might be beyond their stated/sworn duty, or possibly even illegal, or even immoral. In this way bribery is corrupt.
It is near impossible to rectify a corrupted society. The rules/systems in place are obviously not adequate to handle the situation.
When you can pay a cop $20 to not write a $50 speeding ticket it is beneficial for both parties. The rules/system has to ensure that speeding tickets are written, otherwise corruption persists. There are ways to ensure cops indeed write speeding tickets. Perhaps authorities can somehow monitor a cop on the job. But the consequences or accepting bribes must not only be severe enough, but there must be some real risk of being caught.
When everybody is on the take, there is no risk of being caught. The entire system requires a reboot with stricter authoritarian rule. Might become communist, or otherwise some dictatorship.
Or try to work within existing system with stricter rules, stricter enforcement, and a strictly enforced democracy that is hardly free.
Or just allow the corruption to continue.
(no subject)
Date: 10/10/11 15:26 (UTC)My cab driver from the airport was actually telling me about the government being crooks when we went past the Parliament building (which is gorgeous)
(no subject)
Date: 10/10/11 16:15 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 10/10/11 16:25 (UTC)That reminds me...
Date: 10/10/11 15:50 (UTC)One of my college buddies got a job as an elevator inspector. When he refused bribes to look the other way over code violations, he was treated indignantly. Some of the code violations could have resulted in serious injury, paralysis, or death to users of the elevators.
Greece is not alone in the baksheesh department.
Re: That reminds me...
Date: 10/10/11 16:16 (UTC)Re: That reminds me...
Date: 10/10/11 20:16 (UTC)Re: That reminds me...
Date: 12/10/11 21:41 (UTC)Re: That reminds me...
Date: 10/10/11 16:24 (UTC)Something serious must'ave happened because it's been a long time since I've even heard of anyone passing an inspection the first time. There's always some new code to comply with. And inspectors get the code addendum in advance of everyone else.
Re: That reminds me...
Date: 10/10/11 16:47 (UTC)Re: That reminds me...
Date: 10/10/11 17:33 (UTC)But I know, I know, these countries at the top of that ranking are doomed to fail... one day, some day, sometime in the distant future, maybe after the Second Coming.)Re: That reminds me...
Date: 10/10/11 18:07 (UTC)Re: That reminds me...
Date: 10/10/11 18:42 (UTC)Correct. You got it right this time.
Re: That reminds me...
Date: 10/10/11 20:29 (UTC)