All systems are corrupt.

I loved this line from my current favorite series, For All Mankind on AppleTV+. 

Not because I like corruption but because I think it’s reality. Put two people together and add the opportunity for personal or corporate gain–you’ll usually get corruption.

Corruption has always been part of how humankind interacts. But now, it’s visible. Didn’t used to be. Today, if you’re looking for corruption and secrets, you’ll find them. You can’t miss them.

But you have to know how to assess the info you find.

It’s not always easy. Seemingly credible people in seemingly credible positions may very well be corrupt. You can’t always believe them.

About anything.

But how to differentiate?

It’s very difficult. If not impossible.

I just watched a documentary on Joan Baez, one of the most important people in my lifetime. I think about her lifetime devoted to activism of all kinds: on behalf of peace, racial understanding, unhoused people and so much more. In her 80s now, she’s seen a boatload of corruption. I wonder how she feels now, in this last part of a long life devoted to a revolution that never really finished.

So I turn the question over to you. How do we decide if someone is corrupt or not? How do we keep from being misled?