system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Is corruption inevitable?

With the current political climate, I was musing on corruption and I was wondering if Corruption is inevitable once you are in a position of power. Is there a natural tendency for favoritism in people? In our daily lives, we all witness and are part of low-stake dishonesty which we often take for granted. Is political corruption the same but on a much more impactful level? I'm interested in this subject, could you point me to some references? Thank you!
gpt
In "Influence Science and Practice" Cialdini notes that reciprocation can tend toward corruption without any malicious intent. The example he gives is of a politician, who has come in at the end of a 12 hour day to 8 phone calls expecting a call back. 6 of the calls are from people he doesn't know. 2 of the calls are from people who gave $250,000 to help get him elected. He has time to make 3 calls. Whose phone calls does he return?

Or as Senator Clay Davis put it: "Ain't no soul in the *world* that fuckin' ungrateful!"