In one HN thread I've seen one person is talking about the benefits of tipping officials, and another commenting on how we've all broken laws anyways and that prosecution is mainly based on not "pissing off" the government.
Someone bribing a hotel clerk and Attorney General being in the news for talking about enforcing a law that hasn't been enforced in a while is a very far cry from the way police pull you over for arbitrary reasons and routinely expect bribes in some other countries. They can technically be phrased in similar ways, but the US is hardly on par with, say, Zimbabwe in terms of corruption.
My point is that the federal government can really screw people over when it chooses to. I'd still choose to live here than in most third-world countries, though.
We're all third world. The saying about individuals probably applies to governments and corporations: Power (or money) doesn't change you, it just reveals who you are.
When did my country become third-world?