In the Roman Republic, it was understood that officials needed to line their pockets as much and as quickly as possible during their limited time in office. This is why term limits are also bad when combined with low pay.
Yes that is how you get to modern US pre-Trump. There’s still corruption, it’s more hidden, and managed enough that the less marginalized middle/upper class have relative safety/stability. Compare that to the other large economies, it was doing retty well for its size, and certainly much better than centuries past.
In the Roman Republic, it was understood that officials needed to line their pockets as much and as quickly as possible during their limited time in office. This is why term limits are also bad when combined with low pay.
Or we could try more strict anti-corruption checks and balances with real, tangible consequences.
Yes that is how you get to modern US pre-Trump. There’s still corruption, it’s more hidden, and managed enough that the less marginalized middle/upper class have relative safety/stability. Compare that to the other large economies, it was doing retty well for its size, and certainly much better than centuries past.