Political donations: Corruption made beautiful

Just a few days ago, the Japanese media buzzed about the reportedly preferential treatment a small, unknown university in Shikoku received in its bid to establish a new veterinary department against that of a larger, more respected university in Kyoto. It was later revealed that the Shikoku university officials were good friends with the current prime minister of Japan and his party members (for your information, Abe has been getting a lot of heat for his connections to a privately owned elementary school that came under fire for its outdated nationalistic and openly racist education).

Anyway, besides all that, it was also revealed that the previous president of the Ministry of Education received a “donation” of 20000$ from the Shikoku university that had not been properly reported. Coincidentally, soon after that, new rules and regulations were made that made it impossible for the university from Kyoto to win the bid – even though, unlike their competitor from Shikoku, they evidently had a better developed plan and support of Kyoto University itself.

That’s the background of how I came to know about what this post is about. I would like you to focus on the donation part of the story. You see, political parties in Japan can and do issue so called “party donation tickets” that anybody can purchase. It is not an investment of any sort, it is just that – an official way to give your money to the politicians. Of course, there are certain regulations, but more than enough open doors to, basically, allow bribes, and, practically, legalize them. The only problem with the donation to the Ministry of Education was that it wasn’t actually reported despite exceeding the 2000 dollars threshold (under which donations do not even need to be reported), not that it was effectively a bribe.

I have always said that everything Japan does, it does beautifully. In Russia corruption is widespread and talked about, frowned upon and fought vehemently (yet unsuccessfully). In Japan – it is a legalized part of the system. Very pragmatic. And there is a good reason for that. You can’t stop stealing, but, I guess, you can’t jail all your politicians, either.

And that, as they say, is that. Thoughts?