些许可控的腐败对经济有益？

    但是，在20世纪70年代，随着美国政府开始严厉打击有组织犯罪，尤其是毒品交易，这一“扭曲的梯子”已不复存在，而如今受压迫的少数民族又少了一条生财之道。曾几何时，打点警察让其对毒品交易、非法赌博和卖淫睁一只眼闭一只眼是常有的事。但是美国打击犯罪和恶行的决心已将有组织犯罪组织和当局之间不成文的停战协议转化为全面战争。在这场战争中，少数民族年轻人被投入监狱，并于随后因人们对罪犯的成见而被迫又回到充满犯罪的生活当中。

    在国家层面，我们实际上可以来看看腐败是如何提升国会效率的。美国众议院所谓的“专项拨款”（earmarks）已被禁4年，而专项拨款是提案人为拉拢特定国会议员而在大型提案中所安插的为该国会议员特定项目提供资金的开支条款。这是典型的行贿，只不过换了种方式而已：“为议案投票，我们将给你提供你想要的东西。”与此同时，由于专项拨款已被禁止，因此国会一直都难以开展任何工作，而国会两党的政客们和无数评论员也在苦苦哀求禁令的解除。

    大部分时候，腐败官员像寄生虫一样通过掠夺社会资源来中饱私囊。此外，随着腐败现象变得越来越普遍，有道德的人将失去对体制的信心，他们诚实工作的动力也会因此而消失。但是，我们要知道，因为我们生活在一个并不完美的世界，些许可控的腐败可能会成为解决某些最糟糕问题的润滑剂。（财富中文网）

    译者：Xiang

    But, in the 1970s, as the U.S. government got serious about cracking down on organized crime in general and the drug trade in particular, that crooked ladder was destroyed, leaving today’s downtrodden minorities with one fewer avenue to gain wealth. It was once common to bribe police officers to turn a blind eye to the drug trade, illegal gambling, and prostitution. But America’s zeal for stamping out crime and vice has transformed the unwritten armistice between organized crime and the authorities to an all-out war, in which minority youth are imprisoned and subsequently forced back into a life of crime due to the stigma against felons.

    On a national level, we can see how corruption can actually make Congress more efficient. For four years, the House of Representatives has been operating under a ban of so-called “earmarks,” or spending provisions tacked on to a larger bill that fund pet projects of a specific congressman that bill sponsors are trying to woo. This is, of course, bribery by any other name: “Vote for this bill and we’ll give you something you want.” At the same time, since earmarks have been banned, Congress has been unable to get much of anything done, leading politicians on both sides of the aisle and countlesscommentatorsto beg for their return.

    Most of the time, corrupt officials are like parasites that feed off society and benefit only themselves. Furthermore, as corruption becomes more prevelant, ethical people lose faith in the system and are sapped of their drive to work honestly. But it’s important to understand that because we live in an imperfect world, a bit of controlled corruption can function as a lubricant to overcome some of our worst problems.