When Corruption Becomes Prestige and the State Becomes Spoils

Al Liwaa: The most dangerous thing about corruption is not that it spreads among those in power and influence, but that it loses its ability to provoke condemnation; that money becomes a source of respect regardless of its origin, and that an official’s success is measured by the wealth he has amassed and the connections he has built, not by the public service he has provided. At that point, the crisis is no longer confined to…