Politics of Corruption

The politics of corruption and the decline of moral fiber in our elected officials continues to cast a shroud of incompetence over our government officials. The indiscretions of elected and public figures over the years have all have put their mark on a society that is in decline. These latest scandals from John Edwards, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to Anthony Weiner only continues to shed more light on a country that has really lost it’s way. Is it any wonder that the United States continues to flounder in an ocean of economic and social distress? Not, when we step back and actually see what America was actually like in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s compared to where America is today. Our society has succumbed to the lowest common denominator in moral behavior, public education is a national disgrace, our elected officials behave with wanton disregard for basic decency, and our corporate world has thrown the book away on prudent sound business practices. All of these factors have contributed to the greatest slide down that slippery slope that proverbial path toward a society where basic principals, compassion, benevolence, trust and moral decency have all fallen into that abyss of human degradation.  

 What caused the United States society, our government, our education and our way of life to decay to a point of almost no return? To really answer that question we have to go as far back to late 1940’s when the United States following World War II was the only nation in the world at that time who escaped the ravages of war at home. From an economic stand point the manufacturing base economy shifted from war time efforts to domestic production. From 1950 all the way till the late 1960’s the United States was at the pinnacle of world dominance in the manufacture of practically every appliance and consumer commodity. Our domestic energy production remained profitable securing the needs of practically every American home and business. 

 The unconscionable way our government continued with racial inequality in the 1950’s and even through the early part of the 1960’s put America on the same page as South Africa in their way government handled the Apartheid system that prevailed in both countries practically at the same time. Even with the continued racial inequality during that period the United States both experienced a continuation of a certain degree of elegance, innocence  and a respect we don’t see today.