For once, I feel tempted to agree with a lot of what Crocodile is saying. But as usual Ramil is making some spot-on and challenging observations.

I particularly agree with the point about paying the lawyer in the US.. Remember the OJ Simpson case?. It seems that unless you were filmed on Live TV committing the crime, you can get off, if you can pay for a good enough lawyer.
It's a very cool observation to say that this is the same as legalised corruption, because it's certainly the same cause and effect: Pay money --> get acquitted.

And on the US vs USSR comparison - Croc, how to you explain the successes of the USSR in space, science, sports and a few other things? I mean, sure, the material standard of a 1960s worker in the USA was probably better in most cases, than in the USSR, but the difference was not THAT huge, and the USSR did really well in some areas. In some aspects, the USSR worker might have had an equally good or better setup. What is your explanation for that?