Power Corrupts

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
I'm not sure. The correlation does not appear to be very strong. I suppose there is a strong correlation between corruption and crime, and crime is lowest if there is more equality of opportunity. The latter, in turn, requires a government guaranteeing certain services.

Crime is lowest when there are fewer laws. Every new law defines a new class of criminals. Plus it must be specified that equality of opportunity doesn't guarantee equality of outcomes.

Originally posted by joe beyser
Few people may encounter governmental corruption. When there is a big scandal the news is certainly going to put a spin on it. When government gets big enough to control the media of course the perception of corruption will be effected.

Man that is true, gun sales to drug cartels, Inter Rev Serv giving away
tax info to harm people, people dying when we are attacked, and all
is well with the world.
Kelly

Originally posted by normbenign
Crime is lowest when there are fewer laws. Every new law defines a new class of criminals.

Your first point is true, as Kazet might say, in a trivial sense, but irrelevant to judgements of which acts should or should not be criminalised. In any case, while a new law may define a new criminal act, it doesn't actually create criminals, provided that citizens modify their behaviour in response.

Originally posted by normbenign
Crime is lowest when there are fewer laws. Every new law defines a new class of criminals. Plus it must be specified that equality of opportunity doesn't guarantee equality of outcomes.

Not all "crime" impacts people's lives equally - I'm obviously not talking about legal definitions, but the real impact of crime on people's lives. Jaywalking may be a crime or misdemeanor in many places, but I don't think it has a significant influence on the quality of life of people.

Originally posted by normbenign
Crime is lowest when there are fewer laws. Every new law defines a new class of criminals.

This is false. There isn't necessarily a law or absence of a law for each possible crime. In fact, more laws usually just means more specificity which might even lead to fewer acts being regarded as criminal.
For example, one country may have a single law criminalizing all involvement with marijuana. Another country may have 50 laws specifying medical uses, whether possession alone is a crime, whether growing is a crime, whether dealing is a crime and various penalties for different offenses.