[coldtea]

>It'd be better if sodomy and [flee from] slavery were legal for people who could pay the bribe, but prosecuted in the cases of poor people and racial/religious/political minorities (aka people the official doesn't like and can't do anything for them)?

Compared to it being totally illegal for everybody and 100% enforced, yes, it would be better.

Compared to fully killing anti-sodomy laws and slavery, of course, not.

But in the real world, totally changing a law takes far more time (and influence) that merely being able to leverage some wiggle room/bribe/whatever.

>It's a legitimate point of view to be an advocate for kleptocracy, but it's honestly rare to see one in the wild.

The actual and powerful kleptocracy are people who have influence on government and on MAKING laws -- not those at the bottom taking some bribe or looking the other way for a friend etc.