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Like many African countries, Liberia has struggled with corruption and the resulting barriers to development. A long civil war only made it worse. But recently elected President Joseph Boakai has promised to do something about it: among other things, he is requiring government officials to be transparent about their finances.
He's not the first to attempt to address the problem. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was also determined to fight corruption, but her attempts mostly failed. It is not an easy task getting rid of it.
I once ignored the advice of a friend and planted bamboo by my house. A few years later it had taken over much of the yard. I ended up spending many hours removing it from flower beds and turning up the turf square by square and carefully separating bamboo roots from the grass. It was easy letting it start. If I had seen what was happening and addressed the problem early, I might have won my battle. As it was, I almost certainly ended up with as much risk as I'd had when I first planted it. But at least by then I knew better and knew I had to be vigilant.
I've heard there are only two solutions to a bamboo invasion: nuclear holocaust or selling the house. We sold (which almost feels corrupt, though I warned the buyers of the potential threat).
Corruption is like bamboo: easy to start, easy to ignore, difficult to root out.
The Republican Party has decided they like a big man who runs things his way, at least so long as they can promote themselves along with him. If that requires condoning corruption, so be it. They admire and wish to emulate Victor Orban of Hungary. Orban is quick to embrace traditional culture and heritage while blaming immigrants for the country's problems. Familiar.
Orban's government has slid into corruption. Or maybe it jumped. One result is that the economy has stagnated. An oligarchy of already rich opportunists has benefited immensely, but the rest of the population has had to tighten their belts. While in Liberia corruption has hindered growth, in Hungary it has caused a downward slide. Through it all, Orban continues to praise Hungary's Christian tradition, blame others for the problems, trample on a free press, eliminate dissension, and rake in what he can.
Here in the U.S., our Republican-majority government has said this is what we want. The richest men in the country are invited to help make it happen. The world's richest man eliminates help for the world's poorest children while promoting an outrageously expensive defense system for which he will be the major contractor. Those who dissent are publicly chastised, called names, and accused.
The most interesting accusation is "corrupt!" When Trump wanted to accept the personal gift of a luxury airplane, he called Democrats corrupt for resisting. It's a clever strategy, I suppose. If you accuse dissenters of the very thing they are dissenting about, it shifts attention. Regardless, the corruption is in accepting the bribe, not in trying to stop it. There is a definition for corruption. You can look it up.
Another interesting distraction is to say that all politicians are corrupt, so quit bellyaching. Not all politicians are corrupt, of course, but it's easier to say that than to figure out who is. But even if you want to assume that most are corrupt on some level, that they compromise their principles on occasion to stay in office, any corruption is not equal to massive corruption. A sandbag is not the Sahara desert.
"Well, at least this administration is honest about their corruption!" Now there's an odd statement. The corruption is blatant, to be sure. But calling the whistle-blower corrupt is simply a lie. That's the opposite of honesty.
While Republicans fawn over abuse of power by the Orban administration, Trump himself is more interested in ingratiating himself to those tyrants whose abuse extends beyond personal gain into cruelty and revenge, such as Putin and Kim Jong Un. Their behavior is that of ruthless war lords who, as in Liberia, emerge as a result of corruption and then live by it and for it.
I applaud President Boakai's attempt to rein in corruption in Liberia. I appreciate Democrats here calling foul on accepting bribes from foreign governments. I especially respect conservatives who call a spade a spade. One day, if the Republican Party survives, it too may attempt to stop or inhibit corruption rather than worship it. What are the odds?