First Issue Essay, Take GRE on Friday the 9th

[Gravy924]

This is my first practice essay, probably should of started this sooner. I know the sticky says to comment on other essays if you expect to get comments on yours, but I would like to get this one read, read feedback, then begin commenting on others so I know where I stand as a writer.
Thanks

Issue: Scandals—whether in politics, academia, or other areas—can be useful. They focus our attention on problems in ways that no speaker or reformer ever could

I agree with the statement that scandals can be useful and that they do focus our attention on problems in ways that no speaker or reformer ever could. There is something in our nature that makes us love carnage. This carnage can be physical, such as the car crash that brings traffic to a halt due to “rubber-neckers,” and emotional, as in the metaphorical train wreck that is Michael Scott in “The Office.” As society as progressed to its state today of almost constant stimuli, it has evolved from understanding the issue to loving the scandal. As such, many issues that are deserving of attention go unnoticed until a juicy scandal involving it has appeared in the headlines.

One example of a scandal creating the interest necessary for progressive change to happen is the case of ADM. Archer Daniels Midland is a food producer that in the early 1990s was investigated and later found guilty of price fixing. While there have always been voices calling for stronger anti-trust regulations from the days of Standard Oil, by the 1990s they got little airtime. Air time is expensive and it is not going to be wasted on an old message. However, when the ADM scandal arose it was all over the airwaves. The case involved a well known company, an FBI informant who turned out to be guilty of embezzlement while he was building a case against his fellow employees, and an issue that affected many millions of Americans due to the large scope of ADM products. The publics attention was focused on the presence of large corporations with pricing power in the goods they use everyday, and with that focus came a large crackdown by the FTC and Justice Department on these companies. It was the scandal, not the repeated cries of those who wanted reform, to get the job done.

Another example if a scandal focusing our attention is that of Watergate. There was no way for any person to have focused our attention on the moral integrity of Richard Nixon specifically, and of the Presidential Institution itself, quite like the Watergate scandal did. Its process of unfolding day after day, week after week, kept it constantly in the public’s eye. The constant denials coming from the Oval Office in contradiction to more and more damning evidence made sure it was the prime focus. Had any reformer wrote or picketed about the corruption in the White House during President Nixon’s term, they would have had little publicity at best and been shunned as un-American at worst. The scandal, and its outcome, allowed no-one to continue being naïve about the sanctity of the President of the United States.

A more recent scandal that brought light to a controversial issue is that of the bonuses paid to Merrill Lynch executives after the company was bought by Bank of America, partially with American taxpayer dollars. During a boom, it is hard to be bothered by the talk of expansive corporate bonuses. The numbers are so large as to be hard to comprehend, and as long as everything else is getting raises, albeit at orders of magnitude less, then why complain. However, after the onset of the financial crisis, corporate bonuses came into the limelight. People could not understand how these investment bankers were getting bonuses of millions of dollars while they, who did not contribute at all to the crisis, were losing their house. The scandal came to a peak when it was revealed that, days before Bank of America bought the failing Merrill Lynch, partially with funds from the TARP program, Merrill paid its executives millions of dollars in bonuses. People were extremely angry that their hard earned dollars were being spent on bonuses for executives who ran their company into the ground. After this scandal Congress became involved and it is now highly likely that some sort of restraint will be put on executive compensation.

As our society has become one enthralled with special effects and loud noises, the scandal has become the primary method of focusing our attention on the issues of most importance. In today’s world, the great orators such as William Jennings Bryan and James Madison would be relegated to CSPAN while the latest controversy involving some pop-star gets the primetime spot on the three major cable news networks. As such, the scandal is the only thing that has both the entertainment value and societal importance to focus our attention on those things that need it.


Thanks for reading. Word count is 735 or something close.

[omnara]

My take on this is different. I have not read your essay yet - to keep off the influence. I would read yours and give an opinion soon.

Here is my take.

Issue: Scandals - whether in politics, academia or other areas - can be useful.They focus our attention on problems that no speaker or reformer ever could.

"If people want crap, I feed them the best crap"
Gail Waynand, The fountainhead by Ayn Rand.

Scandals - Are they more effective to bring in social reformations? In this era of internet and television, with channels and websites boasts of millions of viewers from around the globe, should we resort to scandals to catch the attention of masses?

A free society is defined by laws and rules. As long as there has been laws and rules, these have been flouted - in the public view or away from it. In other words, a majority of the members of any society secretly believes that laws are to be obeyed only by others in the society and not applicable to selves. Thus exists the curiosity of people to see what others do, if they do, behind closed doors. And a majority of scandals caters to this curiosity of the public.

Ever since the advent of print media, salacious and scurrilous scandals have
been the favourite of society. The reporters were aptly named paparazzis.There had been dedicated news papers called "yellow sheets" which carries nothing but scandals or potential scandals. Litigation over the news carried by these papers were a regular affair in the courts. Yet they have never seen a loss in subscription bases - a proof that pandering to the baser emotions of public is a viable business. But that was a time where mainstream media refused to carry scandals.

This is not to say that some scandals have caused reformations. For example, the american public were made aware of a scandal later known as "Watergate" which caused president Nixson to step down. This revelations, brought out by print media and television had far fetched repurcussion in the political space of both United States and rest of the world. The news that the president, who is considered the first person of USA, lowered himself to order spying on political opposition so that he could device methods to win the next election was shocking to the americans. As a result of their reaction, new checks and balances were introduced to prevent the abuse of government machinery for political advantages. This is a rare example of a scandal bringing in positive changes in the political landscape.

Now, with television and internet has superseded print media in terms of
influence on people, scandals have shifted from news papers and weeklies to internet sites and television channels. With the help of huge amounts of money generated, prominence of scandals on internet and television has skyrocketed. They even create scandals to attract viewership. And people, who are interested in such crap, is fed the best crap. For example, just compare and contrast the political ramifications of the scandal in which a later US president - Bill Clinton - got involved and President Nixon's Watergate. What more proof do we require to see what lows we have reached?

In retrospect, scandals - with exceptions - are primarily created by panderers to the society's members baser emotions. Ones who want to control the members feed them what the members wants. In most of the cases scandals are brought out - even created - to draw attention from the graver problems - which are often very difficult to tackle and would have severe after effects on the kingpins - at hand. Unless the members of the society can see through the scandals pouring over the media, they would never be free of this menace.

[omnara]

Now that I have read your piece, I think you have presented your view points cogently. I would rate it as a 5 (or above, but not six). You have presented a good introduction, built your case through three examples and concluded it.