The
Original Corrupt State
There has been some talk these past two years about corruption. Whether or not certain leaders are on the
take, whether or not certain leaders act more like mob bosses than duly-elected
members of the public trust. It
certainly reached a zenith when a certain orange-stained narcissist with an
already dubious history was impeached for corrupt practices, and the basic
attitude when it came to that person’s fanatical supporters was to say: “Yeah,
so what?”
Of course corruption is not limited to the highest offices in the land. Or, for that matter, for the highest offices
for the various states. But the fact
that there are people in government, in places of power, that look at the
corruption of others with blatant indifference and even validation shows just how
corrupt the whole system is.
And maybe we should have seen it coming.
After all, this was the same person who, four years prior to this
article, proudly boasted that he could kill someone in the middle of 5th
Avenue in New York City and not lose a single supporter. This is someone who should have never been
anywhere near public office, and yet there were enough idiots in enough key
states that put that same person in the White House.
But this really isn’t about the orange-skinned criminal narcissist, which
is why I’m not going to say his name in this article.
Instead, I am talking about corruption and how easy it has been able to
worm its way into all levels of government, regardless of safeguards and
oversight and rules and regulations.
In the classic 1987 movie “The
Untouchables”, Sean Connery’s character told Elliot Ness (played by Kevin Costner) that everyone
knew where the illegal liquor was. “The problem isn’t finding it,”
he said. “The problem is who wants to cross Capone.”
That basically sums up how badly corrupt Chicago was in the 1920’s, as
well as a few other places. Everyone was
corrupt. Everyone. If you could commit a blatant crime repeatedly
and everyone just accepts it, then the whole lot is corrupt.
We like to think that corruption is just a rare exception. That there are a few “bad apples” in the bushel
that just need to be tossed out. But the
fact that they don’t get tossed out only proves that it is not the rare
exception. That the corruption is systemic,
that everyone turns a blind eye to it, and the only “rare exceptions” are the
extremely rare cases when certain corrupt individuals go way too far.
If you want to know how that could happen, we need to go down to the base
level of corruption. Forget global leaders. Forget national leaders. Forget state or county or provincial leaders. Forget big corporations for that matter. If you want to know how corruption winds its
way up to those levels, then you need to look at your own community and even to
your own neighborhood.
Corruption begins with this statement: “That’s just the way things are done.”
You get that over-achieving mother whose precious girls win every beauty
contest that she just happens to be a judge in.
You get that realtor who just happens to sit on the zoning board and
manages to steer the development projects a certain way. You get that police chief that keeps getting
re-elected for no other reason than because the elderly voters “remember” him. You know that nosy neighbor that sits on your
neighborhood homeowner’s association board that complains about every single
thing that differs from their own home.
And whenever you speak up about any of it, what do you hear? “That’s just the way things are. That’s just how things are done ‘round here.” It’s not about what is right, or fair, or
appropriate. It’s about the status
quo. It’s about certain people getting
their way no matter what.
That’s right, folks. The Good Ol’ Boy
system is the birthplace of all corruption.
That’s how racism and sexism became so systemic in society and why it’s
so hard to get rid of them. You can say “this
is wrong” all you want and impose rules and regulations and oversight boards,
but as long as you have people in power and authority and influence that
believe in racist and sexist ideas, even if they don’t consider themselves to
be racists or sexists, then you will never really get rid of racism and
sexism. That status quo will be reinforced
and defended over and over again. And,
even if you put “the right people” in charge, you still have to deal with
underlings and various levels of support that still keep things going because “that’s
just how things are done.”
Yes, you can put in a mayor that isn’t corrupt, that wants to crack down
on corruption, that wants to fix the system and make it work for everyone, but
you still have a city or town council with members on the take. You still have regulators and supervisors
and police officers and school board members that could still be on the take. You could still have an ethics board that is
on the take and they decide that the first order of business is to remove that
same uncorrupted mayor by accusing that person of being “on the take” and railroad
them out in a heartbeat. Believe me, I’ve
seen it happen!
Remember Prohibition? That failed “experiment”
when we tried to outlaw alcohol? The
very thing that made Al Capone a rich and powerful man. Why did it fail? Well, it wasn’t because of Al Capone or the
mob bosses. It was because it was a bad
law, imposed by abusive thugs, and because we wanted to drink. Prohibition actually *created* more corruption
in society; because it required us to break the law and to allow other illegal
activity so we could continue to drink. The
people of Chicago really weren’t afraid of Al Capone or the rest of the
criminal lot as much as they didn’t want to stop the booze from flowing.
Drunk driving laws are serious today, but once upon a time they weren’t. People didn’t think it was serious because
everyone did it. Cops and judges and
prosecutors all did it. That was just “the
way things were”. It took a real
concentrated effort to get that to change, and it had to be done all on the
local level. It wasn’t just passing laws
and regulations from up high and forcing businesses to follow them. It also had to be on the local level, with
people who decide that if they want to drink, they can’t drive, and with businesses
that decided it was in their better interests to be more responsible.
Let’s get brutally honest here... corruption begins at the local level. It starts with the “Good Ol’ Boy” system of “how
things work” and the compromises that are made to keep those in power where
they are. Those compromises allow others
to manifest, and those expand and move up to larger governing bodies. By the time it gets to the national level, it’s
already too late. That’s when you end up
with political parties that don’t really fix anything and a narcissist that
claims to “drain the swamp” but really puts in cronies and lackies and is
excused from being held to account for his criminal actions.
You want to change that? You start
at the local level. You start in your
own neighborhood. You start with the “Good
Ol’ Boy” system and you tear it down.
You don’t accept “that’s just the way things are”. You change that. You force that change. And you keep the “Good Ol’ Boys” from coming
back even when it’s done. Then you work
it up. Then you take it Main Street and
the County offices. Then you take it
statewide. Then you take it nationwide.
It’s not an easy process. But
nothing good ever is.
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