ABSTRACT
Some generalized symbolic media, such as money and power, are often seen as basic to stratification because their possession allows individuals to possess wealth (economy) and wield power (polity) and, then, to use these two resources to secure many additional resources in a society. Generalized symbolic media of exchange that circulate across institutional boundaries—particularly money and power as franchised authority (by polity) in corporate units are more than just “symbolic”. They have material consequences because money can buy power, and power can be used to gain money. Furthermore, the mixing of generalized symbolic media has led to the formulation of counter-ideologies to the meta-ideology legitimating stratification, at least in some societies after the agrarian era of institutional evolution. Corruption occurs when a foreign medium competes with the value of an indigenous medium, causing a subset of actors to interact, exchange, and communicate about feelings, thoughts, and actions in extra-institutional ways.
