Should there be different nouns for the state of being corrupt and the process of turning corrupt?
I dislike the word ‘corruption’ because it implies to me that something that was not corrupt before is being turned corrupt right now.
Especially in the case of politics and politicians that implied meaning is inappropriate because both politics and politicians have always been corrupt, so I think there should be a different word for the state of being corrupt for politicians and politics as a whole.
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I absolutely love this question, and share your dislike of the term “corruption” to describe the standard operation of an institution. It reminds me of when people say things like, “Corporation x is only concerned about making money!” (as though this isn’t a requirement a corporation has to its shareholders).
When you say that politics and politicians “have always been corrupt”, I am assuming you are describing the normal state of power and how decisions are made (money). When someone finds out about some little story of someone accepting money for a vote and calls them “corrupt”, it’s difficult to listen to because it seems so little different from the current process in Washington. And yes, you’ll likely here the term “now” thrown in as though things have changed.
So, I agree with your premise. I’m not sure I have a good option for a different term, however. And even if we could find a term to describe a deviation from the norm, the average population is ill-equipped to even know what this is.
^^ What the sh*t? I can’t proofread this crap before I submit these answers? I really need to make an effort in this area. I made the mistake of reading the rubbish I just wrote above. I’m going to flag it as “doesn’t meet standards”.
Oy vey! Do you see the corruption in the posts above. :-)
Surely people and institutions don’t start off corrupt. Who would want to create something corrupt? The descent from idealism to double dealing and self interest happens gradually and the word corruption seems a good one to describe it. It tells us it is something unhealthy that we should try to avoid.
Great idea. Yes! In our modern corporate greed and shareholder value world we’ll end up with as many words as the Inuit got for snow.
But isn’t that an integral part of the meaning of “corrupt” and its derivatives?
“Corruption” implies, by its core meaning, a transition.
Are you asking for cognates/synonyms for the word? That would make more sense…
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