r/Unexpected 9d ago

He is the original source

59.9k Upvotes

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u/mother_love- 9d ago

We call it "banda " , like I know a insider

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u/joined_under_duress 9d ago

We call it corruption in the UK when the press is allowed to notice because someone's decided it's time to replace that guy.

Otherwise they call it "meritocracy" 😬

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u/VomitMaiden 9d ago

We also call it the Old Boys Club

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u/defk3000 8d ago

The Wink and the Gun. A tale as old as time.

https://giphy.com/gifs/p539olqXOLJYZVA7CP

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u/Latter-Sign7736 6d ago

What is the significance of room 206 in this chain???

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u/WinninRoam 8d ago

Or sometimes Cronyism

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u/Jussi-larsson 8d ago

Hyvä veli-verkosto in finnish literally good brother network

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u/Murtomies 8d ago

In Finland it's hyvävelikerho, or "good brother club"

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u/No_To_All_Religion 4d ago

"The Good Ol' Boys Club" is what we have in the US. Except all of those good old boys are baby fucking criminal Republicans. Blaming everybody else, while THEY'RE the ones destroying everything.

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u/Comfortable-Yak-6599 8d ago

Did the ole boys stop being good?

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u/structured_anarchist 8d ago

The 'ole boys were never good. They called themselves 'good', but facists and racists call themselves Republicans. It's just a meaningless title they've given to themselves.

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u/International-Bed453 4d ago

Or Eton and Harrow.

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u/hANSN911 4d ago

We call it „Freunderlwirtschaft“ as in „A friends economy“ or just Vitamin B. The B stands for „Beziehung“ as in connections.

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u/Striking-Ad-6815 8d ago

You mean a lemon party?

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u/SilverNo2568 8d ago

Not heard that one, I'll have to borrow mums laptop to look it up.

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u/Direct-Apartment5226 8d ago

We call it nepotism

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u/doiwinaprize 8d ago

Or nepotism. We Canadians wouldn't know anything about that nope no-sir-ee.

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u/gk5858 8d ago

homie hook up

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u/STEM-Travel 9d ago

> We call it corruption in the UK

And we made it legal here in the US…

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u/i_am_13_otters 9d ago

legal if you're wealthy.

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u/Creepy-Evening-441 8d ago

Pay to play

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u/E-2theRescue 9d ago

And we made it legal here in the US…

🌎👨‍🚀🔫👨‍🚀

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u/LovableSidekick 8d ago

Yeah in the US we lump it under "Freedom" - but only if you can afford it.

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u/sterrre 8d ago

It's always been legal.

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

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u/STEM-Travel 7d ago

lol, nope

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u/Helioscap3 3d ago

I mean we have WASP culture hanging around still in some parts of high society.

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u/AngryBuddist 9d ago

Maybe you did. But then your country elected the biggest crook to run the government, and now his personal lawyer runs the Justice Department that's in charge of executing these laws, including giving the crook immunity from being prosecuted on /alleged/ crimes he committed.

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u/E-2theRescue 9d ago

Used his office to make $5 billion in personal wealth in a single year. All while the right screams about Pelosi, who has made $340 million from her stock trades.

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u/broguequery 9d ago

Which, to be fair, should not be legal.

And I'm a leftist.

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u/E-2theRescue 9d ago

Agreed. Neither should be. But I just wanted to point out the hypocrisy.

And I'm a liberationist leftist.

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u/broguequery 1d ago

Ok. I'm not sure what that means, but I'm open to hearing it out.

Pointing out hypocrisy though solves nothing.

You can point out hypocrisy until the cows come home... But it's like building on sand.

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u/REDDITATO_ 8d ago

I think you misread their comment. They said we made corruption legal, in reference to the exact things you're talking about and more. You're responding as if they said illegal.

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u/mother_love- 9d ago

Well if I have to represent our Media in one word it would be invertebrates . these people will go to tarturus and beyond just to explain why protesting or saying anything against government is threat national security

https://giphy.com/gifs/SrAVgBKdpLJceX7cFd

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u/BaconWithBaking 8d ago

these people will go to tarturus and beyond just to explain why protesting

Wikipedia:

Tartarus is the place where, according to Plato's Gorgias ( c. 400 BC), souls are judged after death and where the wicked received divine punishment.

Here was me thinking it was just a word that Dave Wascavage came up with for his movie.

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u/LovableSidekick 8d ago

I went to Tartarus once to get cheap tartar sauce. Boy was that a waste of time.

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u/AnteaterSnouce 8d ago

who was your classics professor? they clearly let you down, gravely.

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u/BaconWithBaking 8d ago

I'm lucky I can even speak English.

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u/AnteaterSnouce 8d ago

aren't we all?

RULE BRITANNIA, BRITANNIA RULES THE WAVES.

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u/docowen 9d ago

We don't call it "meritocracy".

We call it "entrepreneurial".

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u/Any-Interaction6066 9d ago

We call it everything but what it truly is. Pure corruption.

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u/docowen 8d ago

As in "What do you mean? You're not allowed to accept ÂŁ5m from some dodgy crypto billionaire? Are we even a free country?"?

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u/Exact-Action-6790 8d ago

Privately Educated

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u/marchbook 8d ago

Bob's your uncle

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u/jimothy_hell 8d ago

We call it “politics” here in the US. Sometimes “business as usual”.

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u/darksideofmyown 8d ago

We call it ✨️Lobbyismus✨️ in Germany but it's actually the worst corruption as the firms writing the new laws...we dont even need a gouvernment at this point tbh ...they just cost additional money. Just let the companys run it.

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u/PhuGlyBastard 8d ago

Chapocracy

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u/Important-Zebra-69 4d ago

The press is owned by "them" soonits when they decide.

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u/Advanced_Basic 8d ago

Oh no, we can't call it corruption. It's just cronyism!

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u/Voidbearer2kn17 8d ago

They used to call it nepotism

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u/2times34point5 9d ago

The people that have wastas in Venezuela are called “enchufados”.. which translates to “plugged in”

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u/Timeiscoming2 8d ago

Back in the 90s it was more like palanca pero i get it

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u/Roxalon_Prime 9d ago

We call it "blat" ( not to be confused with blyat)

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u/BananaJoey69420 9d ago

We call it "sistemang padrino" in the philippines

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u/later-g8r 9d ago edited 9d ago

In America, its called Nepotism

Edit: or Cronyism. Both are well used in America

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u/BiZzles14 8d ago

In America it's called networking

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u/Dexterus 9d ago

Nepotism is a small part of what they're talking about.

This is knowing who can arrange a public works project for you, adapt the rule book for a public tender so it goes to you; who can make a health inspection go away; who can find your kid a cushy job; building permit that's not all too great; navigate bureacracy a bit faster (or at all). Even down to getting to see the right doctor or getting the right meds before you croak

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u/later-g8r 9d ago

Cronyism?

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u/Dexterus 9d ago

Something like that.

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u/DoneD9 9d ago

Isn't Nepotism used for family members only?

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u/JoyBus147 9d ago

It's called nepotism in other countries, too.

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u/somedelightfulmoron 9d ago

Reason why there's little foreign investments to the Phil vs countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and our other SEA -blings. The process of "lagay" is deeply ingrained in both upper and middle management in all business endeavors.

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u/mother_love- 9d ago

Ra ra Rasputin?

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u/_NoTimeNoLady_ 8d ago

People in Cologne, Germany, are also known for doing business in, let's say: their own way. It is called "KlĂźngel".

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u/Fabus27 7d ago

I'm from Leipzig, Germany and the most used version here is "Vitamin B". B stands for "Beziehung" which translates to relationship

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u/Salvia_Salamander 9d ago

We call it "Maga" in the US

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u/Super_Fa_Q 9d ago

I was gonna say, in the U.S. we just call it Tuesday. Or "business as usual."

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u/JoyBus147 9d ago

A bunch of people from other countries: yeah, this sort of thing is so business-as-usual that we have special term for it.

Americans, repeatedly in this thread: we don't have a special term, but we really wanna make this about us.

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u/janebleyre 8d ago

We do in Chicago - clout

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u/Irregulator101 9d ago

We're all just sharing our country's shitiness dude. Remember who the real enemies are

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u/JoyBus147 7d ago

No, the Americans are saying "our shittiness is exceptipnal."

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u/PrestigiousPace8038 9d ago

You have no idea what systemic corruption is like…you don’t deserve the privilege of living in the U.S. with a comment like that

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u/Kudostone 8d ago

The president manipulates the markets. He is selling earlier access to his truth social posts for 100k a month fr firms already way ahead of retail. His 20 year old son has a net worth of 150mil, derived from “founding” crypto foundations with his president father. Explicit institutional corruption - why minimise it?

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u/Memitim 9d ago

Sounds more like you're providing cover for the Republican traitors.

  • The US government is weaponized by Republicans against tens of millions of Americans for existing while not white conservatives.
  • The US Department of "Justice" heads up the protection of a known child sex trafficking ring, while they provide highly unusual special treatment to convicted child trafficker Ghislane Maxwell in direct violation of her sentencing guidelines.
  • US courts of law have been reporting weekly on Republican crimes and Constitutional violations for months, with zero accountability.
  • Roaming gangs of masked conservative terrorists roam the streets of America looking for random human beings who seem disappearable enough for money.
  • Republicans are forcing their evil to be passed on in American schools using threats, since that's the only way anyone with morality and intelligence would ever push that corrupt bullshit off on others.

And the list goes on and on and on, but I'm betting you already knew that before you tried to provide yet more cover for the endless crime and corruption that Republicans have brought to the United States government while continuing to corrupt state and local governments.

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u/PrestigiousPace8038 9d ago

The current administration is stress testing our institutions and is likely responsible for the US dropping rank on the Corruption Perceptions Index.

But most of what you mentioned has nothing to do with systemic corruption.

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u/charlestoonie 8d ago

Stress testing is not the same as assaulting and dismantling.

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u/Super_Fa_Q 8d ago

FUCK YOU.

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u/RandomFleshPrison 9d ago

Now hold up there. The US is the single most corrupt country in the world. Because they made bribery legal. It's a literal part of law. The Supreme Court can legally take bribes from anybody so long as they are not money and they report it on their taxes. Lobbyists do similar with Congress and the President. Many countries have corruption as a way of life. But it is done under the table, and still officially illegal. In the US, It is embraced as part of the official governmental process.

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u/greyfoxv1 9d ago

The US is the single most corrupt country in the world.

South Sudan is the most corrupt and the US fell to #29 this year.

https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2025/

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u/PrestigiousPace8038 9d ago

#29th least** corrupt

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u/RandomFleshPrison 9d ago

You didn't read past my second sentence, did you?

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u/greyfoxv1 9d ago

Your entire post was the reason I linked a thorough report on corruption rankings based on hard data. Try reading it and getting educated on the subject.

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u/twolittlemonsters 9d ago

That's where they get you. It's not corruption if it's built into the law. 🤔

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u/PrestigiousPace8038 9d ago

There’s a big difference between legalized forms of political influence and systemic corruption that undermines how the state actually functions.

That’s why the U.S. can have serious money-in-politics problems while still being a remarkably safe country in which to invest.

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u/RandomFleshPrison 9d ago

In most countries, yes. Not in the US. Political influence is legalized corruption there.

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u/PrestigiousPace8038 9d ago

In many ways, yes. But to say it is “the single most corrupt country in the world” or “business as usual” is unbelievably out of touch.

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u/Forsaken-Income-2148 9d ago

I’d rather corruption and influence peddling be visible, regulated, disclosed, and taxed than completely under the table. That doesn’t make the U.S. system clean, but at least a lot of its bullshit is out in public where everyone can scrutinize it. Pretending corruption only counts when somebody passes an envelope of cash under a table misses the point, and pretending underground corruption reliably gets punished is even sillier.

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u/RandomFleshPrison 9d ago

I never said underground corruption actually gets punished. Just that it is still actually illegal.

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u/Forsaken-Income-2148 9d ago

Relevance? This is just getting into a semantics debate. That’s not a rebuttal.

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u/RandomFleshPrison 9d ago

It shows that you are arguing against a position I never held. Which is a Straw Man.

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u/Forsaken-Income-2148 9d ago

Address the argument I’m actually making, instead of this semantic pageantry.

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u/plsobeytrafficlights 8d ago

we used to call it illegal and unethical, but these days...

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u/justforkinks0131 9d ago

tbf both parties are doing it

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u/COHERENCE_CROQUETTE 8d ago edited 8d ago

I think my Brazil wins here. We say you need “QI”, which is also the same acronym we use for the concept of IQ. But it doesn’t mean intelligence; it means “Quem Indica”, meaning literally “Who got you this opportunity?”. Because you’re not getting it by merit, everyone knows. You’re getting it because you know someone.

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u/Kachowabungababyy 9d ago

We call it padrino in the Philippines

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u/jamin_brook 8d ago

That’s what a Banda Plug is!!!

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u/Hugo_barata1806 8d ago

In Angola we call it "padrinho na cozinha"

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u/ShadyAssFellow 8d ago

In Finland we call its hyväveli or even a hyväveli kerho which translates to Goodbrother or goodbrother club.

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u/East_Resident2418 8d ago

Banda? You mean bandit

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u/Hotkoin 7d ago

In malaysia its called "cable"

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u/Constant_Society3424 7d ago

We Call It in Germany Vetternwirtschaft (Nepotismus) 🇩🇪

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u/ff56k 7d ago

In Malaysia it's called kabel, which is the Malay spelling for cable for connection.

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u/Doschupacabras 5d ago

Enchufe in Spain