[qj4714]

I never liked the word corruption because it lends itself to too many interpretations. I see the problem as tribalism. In most third world coutries, the poitical set up is a couple tribes that share power, control industry, and insulate themselves from the problems of the rest of their country. Everyone else not part of the tribe has to fend for themselves. A tribe is more than a collection of people/families, it is an institution that can impose social mores on its own kind.

What foreign aid does is insulate these tribal systems against change. It often supports repression, but also does provide needed medicine or food to people you would otherwise die. That, to me, is the problem.

[mjklin]

Adding to your point: in a tribal culture within a "state" that began as some convenient lines drawn by westerners, when your tribesman gets into political power it will be expected of him to reward his tribe with jobs and/or monies from the public coffer.

When a common person needs help from above, he or she turns to the tribe strongman rather than a bribe-seeking policeman or bureaucrat.

While this may look like "corruption" to westerners, it is understandable in places that have different political histories than the west.