Power is Corruption

Politics can be very corrupt at times, no matter where the political practice is taking place; the definition of "corrupt" from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary is, "characterized by improper conduct." The concept of politics is the power and ruling of a group of persons, but it is the power that makes politics so corrupt? Where there is political power, there is political corruption, this is the same concept as the common expression, "Where there is power, there is corruption, and where there is absolute power, there is absolute corruption," which is, indeed, very true. Politics is everywhere around you; politics is on your television, politics runs your government, and politics control how you live. Moreover, corruption is everywhere around you; your television shows corruption, the government runs off of corruption, and your life is controlled by the surrounding corruption. Proof of political power [and power in general for that matter] being the cause of corruption is everywhere; there is evidence of political corruption in Canadian politics today, world politics, and there is even evidence of political corruption in fiction.

Political corruption dates as far back as the founding of politics; nonetheless, corruption has stayed with politics ever since - and will probably not leave politics anytime soon. Hamlet, a play by Shakespeare, is a great example of political corruption in the past, even though it is fictional and not solely written about politics. The play is filled with political corruption; however, the most politically corrupt part of it is that Claudius killed his own brother, King Hamlet, to attain his brother's power and title as King, as he was next to kin. The issue of King Hamlet's death caused much to change in Denmark [setting], Marcellus stated, "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark," (Shakespeare, 61) which refers both to the Ghost and the connection between the moral legitimacy of King Claudius and the health of Denmark as a whole. Additionally, the Ghost is evidence that the state of Denmark is "rotten". Although this example is fictional, it goes to show that people write about corruption of political systems, as authors write a lot on what they experience in their own lives; moreover, Shakespeare's son, Hamnet, died at a young age, and not very long after his son's death, Shakespeare wrote the play Hamlet. This goes to show how an authors experience in real life is incorporated into his own works in literature. Not only are there many political issues of corruption in literature, but there are also many well known issues of political corruption in the real world.

If you heard the names Richard Nixon and/or Bill Clinton, the first thing that would come to your mind (besides them being Presidents of the United States) would be two scandals - the famous Monica Lewinsky scandal and the famous Watergate scandal. The Monica Lewinsky scandal took place during the late 1990's; President Bill Clinton had engaged in sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky, an intern for the White House. Not long later, this political sex-scandal became publicized; corruptness in the American political system was evident. However, this was not the first time America (mainly America, but other countries too) have seen corruption. The Watergate scandal was another big one of the time; Richard Nixon was responsible for multiple political abuses of the time, such as: wire tapping, illegal break-ins, political espionage and sabotage, secret funds, and so on. These events led to Americans breaking faith in their own government, and, not long after, President Nixon was practically forced to resign. In 1973, at a televised question and answer session, Nixon stated, "People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I'm not a crook. I've earned everything I've got," (Nixon) and those who believed his speech would later reconsider their own beliefs on the issue when the secret recordings were released in 1974; these recordings revealed that Nixon had authorized hush money to Watergate burglar E. Howard Hunt, along with many other corrupt activities. These incidents were two of many, but there are far too any to list. The world is, nonetheless, full of power; politics controls most of the world's power, if not all of it. If most of the world's power is held by politics, is there any chance of citizens being able to fight against the corruption? You would think the answer is "yes", but it is not the answer in this case.

Canada is said to be one of the least politically corrupt countries in the world, along with very few others; however, Canada has power, consequentially, Canada has corruption as well. One of the easiest issues for Canadians to relate to is the GST, "I hate the GST, you hate the GST, everybody hates the GST," (Hyde, xv) which is completely true; there are very few people who enjoy paying taxes. Taxes are the root of many issues in politics, and the GST being a main issue in Canadian politics. Although the GST was originally established by former Conservative leader, Brian Mulroney, many political parties have been using the GST as a method of gained votes. From the day the GST was produced, it was unpopular, as most new taxes are; however, the Liberals, in opposition, strategically attacked this tax, promising to replace it. During 1990, Paul Martin stated that he would abolish the GST. Later, in the autumn of that year, Jean Chrétien stated, "I am opposed to the GST, I have always been opposed to it and will be opposed to it always," (Chrétien) making sure he was repetitive and clear that he was against it. Yet as you know, we still pay the GST; Chrétien was in power for 3 terms, but not once did he keep his promise on abolishing the GST. Did he simply forget? Or did he simply taunt Canadian citizens with his false promise to destroy the tax that all Canadians detest? That is for the voters to decide; Canadians did in fact vote him in for three consecutive terms, are Canadian citizens just as corrupt as the political system that controls them?

If Canadian citizens continue to allow corruption to arise in politics, there is nothing possible left to do to the political system. The same goes for Americans, and citizens of all political groups, organizations and countries. Where there is power in politics, there most certainly is corruption; if the citizens are corrupt too, then it is evident that political corruption will continue to be a part of everyone's daily lives. Before anyone can put an end to corruption in politics, they need to put an end to their own corruption first.