Constants and variables 96, Bribery is better edition
Why is bribery better than "good government"? I've been chewing on this question for a long time. Finally pinned it down.

It's a matter of modularity.

Universal truth: Bureaucrats rule by exception.

In an authoritarian system without the absurd satanic insane pretense of "laws" and "constitutions", exceptions have a specific stated price, just like a loaf of bread. If you can come up with the stated price, you can buy the exception. If another business can ALSO come up with the price, the other business can ALSO buy its own exception.

In a "good government" system with "laws" and "constitutions", bribery is forbidden. A company that wants to buy an exception has to buy a "law", which then APPLIES TO EVERYONE. There is only one loaf of bread. After Disney buys it, nobody else can eat.

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The bribe system is MODULAR. Each purchase is a TEMPORARY stack-based VARIABLE, local to the module where the purchaser operates. If the purchaser stops making payments, the exception goes away.

The non-bribe system is a GLOBAL system. All variables are persistent globals, which can be altered by any agency or any District Blackrobed Demon. The exception then applies PERMANENTLY to the ENTIRE COUNTRY or the entire EU. A monopolistic monster like Disney or Amazon can design and commission "laws" or "consent decrees" or "precedents" that permanently forbid all competitors everywhere.

Superdemons like Bloomberg and Soros can create "laws" via lawsuit at a local level. When a District Blackrobed Demon writes a "law", the "law" immediately and permanently applies to the entire country.

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Footnote for credit: The metaphor was inspired by this elegant 1970 article that turns Parkinson's Laws into equations and pseudocode. I think it was meant as a parody, but it's just plain true.

Labels: Constants and Variables, defensible spaces, defensible times

  ¶ 6:46 AM