Togo: The Village of Waiting

George Packer is an accomplished writer covering national and international politics. This is his first book, published in 1988. It’s about his experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo from 1982-1984. It’s a nation of seven million very poor people. When Packer was there, the country was transitioning from a republic with temporary military rule to one with full-time military rule. Elections were held again in 2007, and the country seems to be moving toward democracy, or so the CIA World Factbook says.

Much of the story is about Packer’s coming to terms with how much of the world differed from his Ivy League intellectual upbringing and education. It also is about his disillusionment with the possibilities of NGO and development activity. The people he deals with have had visits from the Peace Corps, and visits from the French, and different promises from the government, and yet, they continue to live a subsistence life. They are at the mercy of the rains and do not have indoor plumbing. The story is 30 years old, so much has changed – but much hasn’t in a place where per-capita income is just $1,100.

Corruption shows up a lot in the book. Packer wrestles with it, and his insights are good. In a world where national boundaries, colonial masters, and central authorities change with regularity, loyalty to family and tribe are tantamount. So, a functionary may mark a member of a different tribe as failing a civil service exam in order to create an opening for his kin. A soldier who is not paid by the government still has to feed himself and his family, so why not set up checkpoints to collect bribes? If your family is always there for you, why wouldn’t you stop for lunch at a cousin’s house while the passengers on your bus sit and wait?

It would be nice to say that this is an issue in developing countries, but it goes on in different ways everywhere. In fact, where there isn’t corruption, there tends to be tedious bureaucracy to ensure that nothing bad is happening. I returned to Illinois from California shortly after the George Ryan “licenses for bribes” scandal broke. In any event, I needed a social security card in order to get an Illinois license. I have no idea where it is. I was told that I could go to a social security office a few suburbs over to get a printout verifying the number. The social security office accepted the California drivers license as proof of ID. Does any of this make sense? All these extra steps, just to ensure that I’m not one of a very small number of people trying to game the system? Is it any wonder that a few people slipped a $20 to someone at the DMV in order to speed it up?

What about tipping? In the U.S., table staff is paid less than minimum wage under the assumption that the diners will pay tips. In China, tipping is beyond rude; it’s a symbol of capitalist oppression. Why would you assume that your server needs a little something extra just to bring your food over to the table? In the U.S., where do you draw the line with tipping. It’s rude to tip your doctor, but what about your cable installer? And is a tip to a cable installer a sign of appreciation for the work done or a bribe in exchange for a free HBO hookup?

Then there’s the issue of gifts. In Chicago, a former city official has been charged with accepting bribes from the vendor of the city’s red light camera system. Part of his defense is that the things that look like bribes are really just gifts from friends. And yes, friends do give each other gifts – they pick up the check every now and again, bring flowers on your birthday, buy a book that they think you’ll like. They do not give vacation condominiums as gifts.

When I was researching Emerging Markets For Dummies, the issue came up several times. Some people I talked to distinguished between “good” corruption, in which the money received from bribes stayed in the country, and “bad” corruption, in which the money is sent to a numbered bank account in Switzerland. At one of the banks I used to work at, the boss talked about the “Wall Street Journal” test: would you be proud if your family read about it in the Wall Street Journal? A waitress who receives a massive tip would be happy to brag about it. How about a former city official with a new Mercedes from a vendor?

Another rule of thumb is that if you receive an envelope of cash from someone who is not your grandmother, then it is probably in exchange for something illegal.

Bribery is wrong, but it is widespread. Shaving things a little bit here or there, granting a favor to a friend at the expense of a stranger, giving a customer a free drink to ensure a good tip (and without telling the boss) are not quite right, either, but they take place everywhere, everyday, by pretty much all of us. So what’s in between?

There’s a lot of corruption in West Africa, but there is corruption everywhere. The question is whether it is part of societal cohesion (e.g., giving your neighbor a break) or part of its destruction (taking your money and building a villa in France so you can get the heck out of your banana republic). It’s something investors will have to grapple with, because greed is human nature. The only cultural issue is how that greed becomes manifest.