“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong it's reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.” - Abraham Lincoln
One must study politics as one studies mathematics—possessing only evaluations, never holding beliefs. Beliefs are an emotional investment in a possibility; something vital to morality, friendship, and family but the most harmful vice when studying politics. It is especially harmful if one possesses an ambition of improving the field of politics so that the People will benefit.
Slush Fund: Slush fund is a colloquial term which has come to mean an auxiliary monetary account or a reserve fund. However, the term has special meaning within a context of corrupt (including but not limited to) political dealings by governments, large corporations or other bodies and individuals. Slush funds can have particular elements of illegality, illegitimacy, or secrecy in regard to the use of this money and the means by which the funds were acquired.
Political dealings with slush funds tend to create suspicions of quid pro quo (buying political favors), and can be viewed on the surface as corrupt and subversive of the democratic process. For example, Richard Nixon was involved in a scandal in 1952 that concerned what was called a "slush fund" of campaign contributions. He went on television with an accounting of the money, and was acquitted in popular opinion.
From Understanding Psychology, 7th Edition
Heuristics - Rules of thumb that help in simplifying and solving problems, although they do not guarantee a correct solution.
Confirmation Bias - The tendency to notice and remember evidence that supports our beliefs and to ignore evidence that contradicts them. [Pg 223]
Even highly-educated professionals tend to be easily swayed by their emotions when making important decisions that should ideally be made according to logic. [Pg 224, Framing]
We should expect political candidates to voluntarily take an fMRI lie detector test regarding their campaign promises.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
People with narcissistic personality disorder, for example, display a grandiose sense of self-importance and a preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success. Such people believe that they are extraordinary, need constant attention and admiration, display a sense of entitlement, and tend to exploit others. They are given to envy, arrogance, and they lack the ability to really care for anyone else (APA, 2000). [PG 402]
Antisocial Personality Disorder
One of the most widely studied personality disorders is antisocial personality disorder. People who exhibit this disorder lie, steal, cheat, and show little or no sense of responsibility, although they often seem intelligent and charming at first. The "con man" exemplifies many of the features of the anti-social personality disorder, as does the person who compulsively cheats business partners, because she or he knows their weak points. Antisocial personalities rarely show any anxiety or guilt about their behavior. Indeed, they are likely to blame society or their victims for the antisocial actions they themselves commit.
People with antisocial personality disorder, like the man in the following description, are responsible for a good deal of crime and violence:
Although intelligent, George was a poor student and was frequently accused of stealing from his schoolmates. At the age of 14, he stole a car, and at the age of 20, he was imprisoned for burglary. After he was released, he spent another two years in prison for drunk driving and eleven years for a series of armed robberies. Released from prison yet one more time in 1976, he tried to hold down several jobs, but succeeded at none of them. He moved in with a woman whom he had met one day earlier, but drank heavily (a habit he had picked up at age 10) and struck her children until she ordered him out of the house at gunpoint. "It seems like things have always gone bad for me," he later said. "It seems like I've always done dumb things that just caused trouble for me." (Spitzer, Skodal, Gibbon, & Williams, 1983, p. 68)
On psychiatric evaluation, this man was found to have a superior IQ of 129 and considerable general knowledge. He slept and ate well and showed no significant changes of mood. He admitted to having "made a mess of life," but added that "I never stew about things I have done." This person, Gary Gilmore, was executed for murder in 1977.
Approximately 3% of American men and less than 1% of American women suffer from antisocial personality disorder. It is not surprising that prison inmates show high rates of personality disorder: One study identified it in 50% of the populations of two prisons (Hare, 1983). Not all people with antisocial personality disorder are convicted criminals, however. Many manipulate others for their own gain while avoiding the criminal justice system. [Pg 403]
Authoritarian Personality
Another theory locates the source of prejudice in a bigoted or an authoritarian personality (Adorno et al. 1950). Authoritarian people tend to be rigidly conventional. They favor following the rules and abiding by tradition and are hostile to those who defy social norms (Stone, Lederer, & Christie, 1993). They respect and submit to authority and are preoccupied with power and toughness. Looking at the world through a lens of rigid categories, they are cynical about human nature, fearing, suspecting, and rejecting all groups other than those to which they belong. Prejudice is only one expression of their suspicious, mistrusting views. [Pg. 457]
In-Group
An in-group is any group of people who feel a sense of solidarity and exclusivity in relation to nonmembers. An out-group, in contrast, is a group of people who are outside this boundary and are viewed as competitors, enemies, or different and unworthy of respect. These terms can be applied to opposing sports teams, rival gangs, and political parties, or to entire nations, regions, religions, and ethnic or racial groups. According to the in-group bias, members see themselves not just as different, but also as superior to members of out-groups. In extreme cases, members of an in-group may see members of an out-group as less than human and feel hatred that may lead to violence, civil war, and even genocide. [Pg. 457]
"Central banking is almost entirely a phenomenon of the 20th century . . . . created as a means of financing the government. . . . If you say central banking is essential to a free market economy, I have to ask you about Hong Kong, which has no central bank at all . . . Yet it does quite well in terms of economic growth and stability." -- former Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker, speaking in August, 1990, at a symposium sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
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Groomed Candidates -
Capture -
Good Ol' Boy Network -
Full Pardon for Whistle Blowers: A policy of giving full pardons to those that come forward to reveal corporate and/or bureaucratic corruption regardless of whatever related crimes they themselves previously committed.
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