Political Corruption by Isioma Ozor

The discourse of corruption, in the context of politics can be defined as the misuse of power by those that hold high positions in the government for their own personal gain and continue to stay in power while committing fraudulent acts by obtaining money, and resources that ought to be utilized by the government to provide goods and services for the public. Corruption in politics has been an ongoing issue for centuries. It is a problem in many countries today negatively affecting a country’s methods to which laws are enforced.According to statistics “Three members of the House of Representatives pleaded guilty to, or were convicted of, crimes in 2013, more than any other year since 1981, when the now-cinematized Abscam sting operation put six House members and a senator behind bars. Last year, former mayors of Detroit and New Orleans, among others, were convicted of, or charged with, felonies.” (Pg 1). In the political cartoon titled “Berlusconi” drawn in 2013 by Morten Moreland and published by The Times, there is a depiction of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as being a corrupt politician who denies and has no shame in being deceptive, even when he is caught doing something illegal. The main claim is that there are politicians that are corrupt to the core and will say whatever is needed to suit their own personal agenda.

 According to statistics “Three members of the House of Representatives pleaded guilty to, or were convicted of, crimes in 2013, more than any other year since 1981, when the now-cinematized Abscam sting operation put six House members and a senator behind bars. Last year, former mayors of Detroit and New Orleans, among others, were convicted of, or charged with, felonies.” (Pg 1). In the political cartoon titled “Berlusconi” drawn in 2013 by Morten Moreland and published by The Times, there is a depiction of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi as being a corrupt politician who denies and has no shame in being deceptive, even when he is caught doing something illegal. The main claim is that there are politicians that are corrupt to the core and will say whatever is needed to suit their own personal agenda.

 This example show and further supports the fact that there are political figures that engage in politics just for their own personal gains and feel nor remorse to towards their wrongful actions and If given the opportunity would choose to continue their fraudulent acts as long as they don not get caught that is the perception of a corrupt politician and because of the fact that this corruption now has a great effect in our federal government, the punishment for such acts of fraud bears no weight due to the fact that these individuals are powerful and have connections that would enable them to minimize their punishment preventing them from receiving the right amount of punishment if not for their connections with officials in high positions of power.

I believe that the best solution to putting an end to corruption is to incorporate a more open and candid system in politics. Which would prevent the injustice that occurs in places like Italy where the rich corrupt politicians get let off easy and do not feel remorse for their actions, while the common folks are left to fend for themselves. Our world which consists of corrupt political figures that are shameless and make no attempts to make up for their indiscretions can be changed for the better. But only if changes are ready to be made for our system of government.