He is poking fun at the age old concept of ‘equality,’ one that has inspired wars and movements alike; he accomplishes this by creating a system to make everyone equal, a system that happens to be just as stupid as the idea of ‘total equality.’ Under this system equality is achieved, but it is at the cost of individual freedom and a society full of stupid people, this in-turn creates the situational irony found in the story. The plot of the story itself is a piece of situational irony, however there are many other instances found throughout it, including verbal irony. One specific example of this is when Hazel and George are talking, Vonnegut writes “ ‘I think I’d make a good Handicapper General. (Hazel)’ ‘Good as anybody else,’ said George.” His response to Hazel’s comment is slightly sarcastic, but also ironic, in that she really would be “as good anybody else” because in their society everyone is just as good or bad as everybody else. Another example of this false sense of equality is when George says,
The endorsement groups offer bribes and ask for unnecessary promises to the politicians running for office. The temptation of falling into these traps is monstrous. According to Obama, these politicians feel that if they do not accept these bribes or arguments then they will lose out on endorsement deals as well as votes. Taking endorsements are not bad in anyway. However, a company endorses a certain individual for reasons such as political similarities or to help promote their product.
No matter what one’s ideology is, some will blame a chamber of Congress, the other will blame the White House. It is clear that both used the proletariat masses as hostages to make the other side to capitulate because of their unnecessary suffering because of their willingness to throw a wrench in the cogs of the federal Government. In this day and age, partisan politics is just as much as a societal scourge as racism, sexism and other types of prejudicial strife. It is seemingly that the Founding Fathers intended to use a form of conflict theory that would keep American society in check. What has been called, “Checks and Balances” is indeed a form of conflict theory.
Get out and make a change in their community. Let their voice be heard and vote. But do it with a little intelligence, they are being deceived. They are being lied to by the very greedy people they vote in to office to take care of these issues for them. Understand that greed drives the system they have before them.
Of course, those already in power bitterly resent this; that is why there is such a strong anti-democratic streak in wealthy conservatives and business owners. They complain that democracy allows the poor to legally steal from the rich. (Liberals counter that unregulated capitalism allows the rich to exploit and therefore steal from the poor, and taxes simply correct for that.) But democracy also works in the other direction as well. If we lived in a society where everyone was paid equally, despite their different inputs, people would surely vote to create a system of incentives and rewards.
Some could argue that Caesar could have been power hungry and attempted to take control of other authorities. However, this reform improved the distribution of power, ensuring only the talented and dedicated individuals would be in power and breaking the monopolies existed within the Senate. Elections would then be straightforward, legitimate, minimizing corruption. The widespread corruption was affecting the state so badly that It needed to be put to an
The democratic system found in the United States is heavily slanted to the majority; their convictions are often implemented in legislation and used as the standard by which things are measured. Henry David Thoreau argues in “Civil Disobedience” that majorities are not right simply by virtue of being the majority. Thoreau clearly favors the individual and his convictions when he claims that “if a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man” (Thoreau). As Thoreau’s claims idealize the individual they also diminish the role of the government. Similar progressions can be found in Antigone, penned by Sophocles centuries earlier.
The film 21 also shows the influence of power and corruption on the American Dream. It also shows a further insight on money’s influence on this and how it affects a person. The more power and affluence a person has, the more self-centred they become. “There’s no way I can lose this time, ” A self directed quote by Ben, further enforces the notion that arrogance stems from the gain of power. It is this arrogance that eventually leads to losses.
The army were forms of bribery. Senate – the First triumvirate was a major blow to the Senate and its influence and role within the Roman society. Yet it played a large role in the formation as they drew the members together. The Senate felt threatened by Pompey’s popularity and Caesar’s power. By promoting and supporting Pompey (sole consul) over Caesar, the
A prime example of this controversial issue is the system of television ratings. Television violence, talk shows, and obscene films are questioned to be improper for the average television station; such viewing disrupts one's intellectual stability. Inadvertently, censorship may or may not contradict the law and the rights of the people. In order to achieve a fair and equal democracy, the government supports not only the speaker's rights but the listener's rights as well. Each individual possesses the right to freely express his/her own problems, ideas, thoughts, and emotions in a complementary fashion.