In thinking about the prevention of corruption in their new nation, the Framers considered ancient as well as modern histories of failure. As with eighteenth-century British intellectuals, the Framers’ political thought and discussions were infused by the recently published (in 1776) The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Thus, references to the Roman and Greek corruption are scattered throughout the convention and ratification debates. “Can we copy from Greece and Rome?” Charles Pinckney asked. The Framers constantly compared the British government to the end of Rome–where a well-designed government was eventually internally corrupted and, therefore, self-destructed.

Look at what’s happening in Greece and Spain! And we (which includes our banking institutions, the auto industry, etc.) are not “too big to fail.” Printing imaginary money won’t fix our problems. Lying to ourselves won’t either. Neither President is going to “create jobs” or improve our economy long-term because the system is broken. Why? Because it’s inherently corrupt. I could insert the history of how the Christian Europeans “discovered” this land (and other countries around the world that were already inhabited), but I don’t have the time.  As the saying goes, what goes around, comes around and finally, in 2012, we are about to witness the fall of both the European and American empire. It was definitely preventable — for a lot of our problems have always been malleable. However, the biggest threat to good government has always been corruption and those in power (majority White) typically display this behavior. It’s imperative that we develop a new system.

Check out Zeitgeist: Moving Forward. It demonstrates that a better world and society is truly obtainable, and its closer to becoming actualized than we might think. Expand your mind.

Source: Zephyr Teachout, The Anti-Corruption Principle, 94 Cornell L Review 341, pg. 350 (2009).