me: > no, it's a synonym for "I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine," > what anthropologists call "balanced reciprocity." The defense > contractor gets a no-bid contract and the politician gets campaign > contributions, but there's no formal _quid pro quo_. > Charles: > Another synonym for this is bribery.
bribery involves a _quid pro quo_. Balanced and generalized reciprocity, as Polanyi points out, helps build a community, in this case the US kleptocrats. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
