I guess I'm used to thinking of corruption as bad because it takes things that are a public good like a postal service and diminishes them so someone can make money. It's unfair. It's also unfair to use tax money to make individuals rich.

I guess the side of it that didn't really register is how much it can damage a country, company, or military.

This is what corrupt politicians want to turn other countries into. Hollow shells that can't function except to feed money to select individuals.