answer:I absolutely love this question, and share your dislike of the term “corruption” to describe the standard operation of an institution. It reminds me of when people say things like, “Corporation x is only concerned about making money!” (as though this isn’t a requirement a corporation has to its shareholders). When you say that politics and politicians “have always been corrupt”, I am assuming you are describing the normal state of power and how decisions are made (money). When someone finds out about some little story of someone accepting money for a vote and calls them “corrupt”, it’s difficult to listen to because it seems so little different from the current process in Washington. And yes, you’ll likely here the term “now” thrown in as though things have changed. So, I agree with your premise. I’m not sure I have a good option for a different term, however. And even if we could find a term to describe a deviation from the norm, the average population is ill-equipped to even know what this is.