John Paul
6
Hymel
English IV
US Government Corruption
Politics and corruption tend to go hand and hand. There has been corruption all the way back to the days of George Washington. Corruption is dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery. In this case, it involves political figures. According to Schuman, in 2010 the US dropped in ranking from 19th to 22nd least-corrupt country. “It is the first time the United States has missed inclusion in the top 20 least-corrupt countries since the index was launched 15 years ago" (Schuman). When a city or state needs someone to turn to, they go to their congressmen, governors, and city officials. What happens when those politicians are corrupt and take bribes, or face threats that control the politicians' decisions, or spend the money on other things not needed? Nothing gets done that needs to be done. This is how our country's leaders have ended up in this political gridlock.
History is something that repeats its self on a daily basis. Corruption in the US government is a large problem in society. Any number of things can start corruption. "Senators will support the public option if you know how much they've received in contributions from health industry PACs [political action committees]. Yes, this is perfectly legal. But, in any other context, we'd call a legislative process so clearly infected by moneyed interests what it is: corrupt" (Weiler). As early as 1777 a man named Silas Dean, an ambassador to France, was charged with mismanagement and treason. Some cases may include that of Silas Dean or even today with ex-mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin. It takes many people to come together and fight against the alleged corrupted political figure or figures.
There could be many ways to change the corruption in the world. A proposal that may work is to create a new non-profit organization that is always monitoring political figures and holding them accountable for their actions. The...