As a child, I was raised in Chicago. Its blustery moniker of being the Windy City is actually not a weather condition but is founded in its politicians who were said to be blustery old wind bags. This seemingly benign association is a bit more sinister.
Chicago among other US Cities had large constituencies of Immigrants. I am speaking here of legal Immigrants who came from their Native Countries, European, African, South American and the four corners of the globe to get a piece of the American pie that was so heavily laced with Freedom and Opportunity. My Italian grandparents were among such immigrants and more wonderful Citizens they couldn't have been.
In the time of the great migration, Lady Liberty beckoned all…the Emma Lazuras Poem follows:
In its time, the tired, the poor and wretched refuse referenced were in fact poetic not official US Policy
No doubt there is a faction that believes this IS US Policy and that we have as a Nation an obligation to fulfil its promise. Factually, there has since the Civil War, been various movements even laws that were intended to guide immigration and prevent the overwhelming of a generous country by those who would not participate in a meaningful way by learning the National Language of English, being gainfully employed and assimilating into the culture. My Italian grandparents learned to speak English, became gainfully employed and assimilated becoming proud US Citizens. They never abandoned their born country of Italy and like many others of Chicago's immigrant neighborhoods made America the melting pot it is. It worked but not in some Hollywood version. It took guts to withstand the prejudice and anti-immigrant attitudes of well established and politically entrenched local overlords from the moment they stepped off the boat. The prejudice rotated to Africans, then the various Europeans like the Irish, the South Americans and who remembers the The Chinese Exclusion Act, a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. Try passing such a law today. Forget about it.
In the colloquial language of the cities many derogatory slurs entered the lexicon, Micks, Whops, Beaner, Bohunk, Cabbage Eater (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_slurs) and so many more where slung like verbal bullets all intended to lower the status of one group or another and make them understand there position was lowly and who was in control. But regardless of the local corrupt and obviously prejudiced welcome committee, things got done, people found alignments and through it all corruption ruled being a form of street wise “how you were protected”. This latter is the genus of societies that cannot for whatever reason receive equal protection and fathers Mafias etc.
Corruption is a form of dishonest behavior that has a big impact on everyone. It occurs when an entrusted entity abuses its position of power for its own benefit. Corruption can come in many forms including bribes, double-dealing, and fraud by individuals, businesses, and governments. This becomes so pervasive as to become “just the way it is” and many find themselves depending on alignments with corrupt politicians, police, and local demigods, so they become part and parcel of the corruption. The USA is a corrupt nation. Its founding language roils from it. The idealism of the the Founding Fathers has been replaced by the reality of ugly thug like control. In Chicago, if you wanted something done the system was to approach your local alderman to garner his favor. This often was done by slipping a few bucks under the table or granting some other favore like free stuff or services, even sex.
The current Lobbying system on Capital Hill is a form of corruption…come on, why is it that men and women come into office poor and leave millionaires? It is corrupt. From time to time you get loud politicians screaming platitudes of reform. Yeah right. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. It may take a week or two, but power corrupts and and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
This writing could go on and on but I am already sickened. Once in place and deeply embedded into a society, corruption is extremely difficult to root out. People have been killed trying. You see, once attaining power, keeping it is a deadly serious affair. You will see this in practice in this election year.
The only hope is to en masse stop participating in corruption. This is easier said than done because the corrupt politicians dole out their favors to enough of the populace to get the votes needed to stay in charge and you can bet the farm that they cheat. It is a viscous system. In the simplest way, Trump is a reformer in that he is not the classic professional politician. As you can witness in the daily news, he is being killed by the modern equivalent of a shotgun, lawfare. And all while Biden and his cronies get cover form a corrupt DOJ.
Making things look legal is the big game played by corrupt men. Finding scapegoats is popular too. You will never find a corrupt politician who actually accepts responsibility for anything other than an accidental good result. And even then the corrupt will always seek an angle to benefit personally.
My short list of less corrupt politicians is Rand Paul, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz (a bit slimy but still), Chip Roy and a few others. Both houses are corrupt. The disgrace is that the populace votes them in. It takes a certain kind of sick puppy to vote for the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, et al…here is a fun and perhaps eye opening look at it https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2020/04/majority-of-lawmakers-millionaires/
A good Citizen is one who believes in our founding documents. One who obeys the law and applies with the good sense and mercy intended. One who uses the legally prescribed methods when seeking justice and one who refuses to be bribed, coerced and compromised. Maintaining personal integrity is crucial to the individual's self respect and value to others. Trust is a glue in our society keeping it from falling apart. Being trustworthy is not archaic, it is the stuff that good society's depend upon for people to coexist. Without honesty, especially in politics, we are doomed to a repeating cycle of meeting new bosses, who are the same as the old bosses. It's more than tiresome, it is a disgrace and destructive of good.
Refuse corruption at every level. It is our only hope.
Best,
Donn Marier
DM-Your Own CFO