We all know there’s corruption in government, even if we disagree about who is corrupt and what is considered corrupt behavior. That’s why I think it’s important to look at these allegations of corruption with as unbiased an eye as possible. For example, Joe Biden recently bragged that he was finding ways around the Supreme Court’s decision that he couldn’t forgive student loans. While this has caused quite a lot of pearl-clutching among members of the Republican party, let’s see if we can find the truth amid all the rhetoric.
Depending on what news outlets you pay attention to, you’ll hear claims of government corruption. Of course, these outlets and the people who trust their reporting will disagree about who in government is corrupt and what policies are corrupt, but we all pretty much agree that there is corruption. Unless we recognize our own biases and those of those we get our news from, we will forever be chasing the spirit of revenge that George Washington warned us about in his farewell address.
Take, for example, all of the reports of Joe Biden bragging about ignoring the Supreme Court’s decision on his ability to forgive student loans. Now, I’m no fan of Joe Biden or his student loan plans, but by keeping my biases in check, I see that the claim that Joe Biden bragged about ignoring the Supreme Court is just as false as those who claimed Donald Trump called white supremacists “good people.” There are plenty of corrupt and illegal actions by Mr. Biden while in office, that we don’t need to make up false allegations.
There is a more important question to my mind. If we wish to fix the corruption in government, we must first figure out where it is coming from. I think President Garfield had the answer during a speech at this nation’s centennial:
[N]ow more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature— James A. Garfield, A Century of Congress
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