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What Corruption ? Whose Corruption ?

Managing change

government employees like those border guards eventually find it easy to cross a
threshold, that line that divides the acceptable from the unacceptable.

Those professionals who work to undo criminal behaviour will tell you that a part of

the circumstances that allow for criminal behaviour is the state of mind whereby the
offender knows the criminal behaviour is wrong - but that they will have reached a state of

mind whereby they feel its OK for them to do it.
Analysing the above can show how different people became involved. A border post

with a certain guaranteed level of throughput provides a local mafia with what is the best

business they could hope for:

• A fairly constant and never-ending stream of revenue.

• Money collected in small, used and definitely untraceable notes.
• No 'set up' costs. No 'running costs'. (The buildings and other facilities are already there and
free to use. The staff are already employed 'on site').

• No need for any 'working capital'

• A 'return on investment' which is among the best you will find anywhere in the world.
*****
Any underdeveloped country will, by definition,

 Have a seemingly permanent and inescapable 'debt overhang'

 Have government employees on incredibly low salaries (smart uniforms don't mean

anything in terms of salaries received)
 Have governments that frequently have to 'rob Peter to pay Paul' across their budgeted
commitments as they scramble to make their 'debt repayments' (payable in foreign currency
because the currency of any underdeveloped country just isn't worth anything internationally)
 Have governments who frequently resort to not paying salaries as government employees

are a more controllable form of creditor (and will find it hard to complain, let alone be able to
do something about it)

 Have government minsters who, in order to avoid being seen to be the cause of significant
unrest, will turn a blind eye to activities where their employees take steps to supplement
their income (and it might not actually be a supplement, it may just be a way of filling the
gap caused by unpaid wages)

(If you want to see how this sort of logic flow becomes legitimised, then consider the following.
There's a foreign country's embassy in Vietnam where when they issue me with a visa for their
country, they charge me USD 5 in excess of the actual visa fee.