Which part of our US History has caused the most Corruption?

robert38-55 · November 2011

:uhm: I just read a post by Big Chief in the clubhouse and it got me to thinking ( OK I know OH man,,Robert is thinking again) Spare me the puns I know my brain is smoking!!!!!!:rotflmao::spittingcoffee: Anyway after reading Big Chief's post I was wondering what section or time era or decade of development in our US history do you think has contributed the most to the level of political corruption, Banking corruption, Wall Street and Investing corruption or any other widespread corruption that it running amuck in this country? Could the formation of labor unions be a big part? Did the Industrial Revolution play a part? The citizens of the USA letting our US Government get to big too fast? Could it be the plain ole lust and greed for money and power? Too much illegal immigration? Too many usless US Government entitlement programs? Too many politicial action committes( PAC)? The discovery of crude oil? Major break throughs in science and math and medical discoveries? Did the Railroad have some play in this?
I know there is probably not one single element that one can point a finger to, but when one thinks in terms of all these things that this young country of 235yrs have now and compare our development to the current sad state of affairs, then I believe one has to reconsider the elements......
So if ya had to pick a few things here in terms of inventions, developments, expansion, US Government, Foreign policy etc., Heck maybe all the wars the US has been in have had some infuence on the amount of corruption today? who knows?

pbearperry · November 2011

Corruption is nothing new here.Right after the Civil War,corruption was seen just about every where.They didn't call them Carpetbaggers for nothing.

shotgunshooter3 · November 2011

My pet era of history to dislike is all the New Deal programs that came out of the Great Depression thanks to FDR (that now my generation gets to pay for, joy), but I fully admit to not having studied American History in any great detail.

The more I learn about politics, the more prone I am to saying that corruption has almost universally run rampart.

Teach · November 2011

It would be hard to find a more corrupt period in our history than the time from the late 1800's to the beginning of the Great Depression. The railroads, the oil industry, and later the automotive industry were all in their infancy, and there were few, if any restrictions on big business. Politicians were simply a commodity to be bought and sold, even worse than today. The huge fortunes amassed by some of the big industrialists like the Rockefellers, The Carnegie clan, and the Vanderbilts, and criminal enterprises like the Kennedys and others involved in the liquor trade set the stage for political machines that took total control of the legislative process, and to a great extent, the courts as well. When the financial balloon finally burst, some of these families had enough of a cushion to ride things out, while others went bust.

As an almost direct result of the excesses of the super-rich, the growth of unions as a political power base set the stage for massive criminal influence, such as the building of Las Vegas, and other alliances of the newly-organized Communist party combined with the huge financial reserves of the unions. Money plus political influence made the leaders of the "working class" some of the most corrupt folks in the world. They still are- - - -super-rich thugs living in high style on the union dues of the people they claim to represent.

The operative phrase behind all sorts of corruption is "follow the money!" For all of recorded history, the "golden rule" has been in effect- - - - -"The one with the gold makes the rules!"
Jerry

gunwalker · November 2011

What teach said.

lightkeeper · November 2011

I would also agree with Teach.

Big Chief · November 2011

But... but..... the Obama Administration is open and honest, the most transparent in history right?:devil:

Big Chief · November 2011

That's right Teach and 100 years from now they will say green energy programs/businesses .....................................hell we are already saying that.