Honesty In Contemporary Politics - Essay Example

Honesty In Contemporary Politics Is honesty a value in today’s society? Honesty is a virtue that should be upheld in the society at all fields most especially politics. In politics today, most politicians don’t practice honesty in their campaigns. They focus on getting votes so much from the people and they forget about honesty in the way they ask for the votes. The columnist Charles Blow in his issue has mainly discussed honesty, hypocrisy and lies of the politicians. He talks mostly about Romney, the Republican nominated candidate for presidency. He sides with the results of the Gallup poll that surveyed the sentiments of Independents and Republicans about Romney’s chances of re-election. This group surveyed is the group considered least likely to vote a Democrat and therefore the fact that they predict that Romney will lose by 20% of the votes is credible since they go against their biases. Blow’s sources are all credible, which is a clear indication of his commitment to veracity. This shows Charles Blow is unbiased, thus he gets views from all sides. The critical arguments made in the article are those that talk about Romney hypocrisy and dishonesty throughout his campaign trail (Blow). Romney contradicts himself countless times and this clearly shows that Romney was not honest about all the promises he was making. The article on Romney’s son intimated to Vladimir Putin personally, that his father Mitt Romney was intending to keep relations with Russia if elected. Blow states that Romney’s son, Matt, recently traveled to Russia and delivered a message to President Vladimir Putin. Later, Romney contradicts himself by saying he told a Russian known to be able to deliver messages to Mr. Putin. As a result of these contradictions, it’s unclear if the message actually got to Mr. Putin. This also does not give us actual evidence of whether Romney’s son actually intimated to the president of Russia. However, the article does accurately represent the state electorate before the United States 2012 elections (Blow). Charles Blow writes another column “The G.O.P fact vacuum.” This article published in the New York Times lays bear dishonesty in America’s political scene on the reader. He addresses mostly the Republicans and their long history of telling lies and half truth or saying things that they do not necessary believe in, so as to indulge to the electorate. He wrote that the campaign trail of the 2012 elections was dotted with lies especially in the Republicans’ side. Blow cites that Republicans will vote for their candidate despites the lies he/she tells. Although Blow does not offer an opinion on why it is so, it is clear that most Republican electorates are not concerned with the truth but the values espoused by the candidates. Evangelicals are more concerned about values espoused by Republican candidates rather than truth about heir assertion about the economy, medicine or other issues unrelated to their values. Republicans are not factual in nature in their claims but are just beliefs. Therefore, they are not acquiescent to the same fact finding techniques used on assertations made on factual basis. Sources cited in Blow’s articles are liberal sources such as Sally Kohn, and this cast doubts on objectivity of article. Also, Republicans being unfactual does not necessary outright them to be liars, so Blow is a little harsh (Blow). Another article ‘Shades of gay,’ talks about coherent and concise non-partisan interpretation of the results found in the study conducted by the William Institute and the Gallup Poll. He says that the view that racial stereotypes are responsible for the perception that black and other racial and ethnic minorities in the United States are less likely to disclose their sexual orientation. This is viewed by Blow as a biased analysis of this pervasive and prevailing idea. Many documentaries have been done about the fact that minority groups are less likely to reveal the sexual preferences like the African American. This is mainly because of heterosexual bias in workplace that affects people of minority groups more than Causians, although LBGT Causians also face challenges. Minority groups have juggle both their sexual identities and their racial and ethnic identities in work place. Minority groups therefore have to deal with double anxiety. Therefore, Blow states that people from minority groups are less enthusiastic about revealing their sexual orientation. The writer agrees that new variables such as outreach program for those with AIDS and openness among politicians in statistics as documented by the two studies are critical (Blow). In view of Charles Blow’s previous issue, I would expect him to address minority discrimination issue in US today. Minority discrimination involves treating those less powerful or those few in number without respect and not considering their opinions. Minority discrimination over the past years has affected the society, especially in social places. The largest group of people facing this type of discrimination is the African Americans, Asian Americans and Latins living in the United States. They face this type of discrimination because of their race and ethnic background. In the United States, African Americans are associated with criminal activities more than the whites. The Asian and Latinos face discrimination as they are a small number, thus their views are not usually taken into consideration (Blow). Columnist Charles Blow would address this issue of minority discrimination mainly in two ways; political aspect and the use of stereotypes. Blow, after finding credible sources, would compile his findings and write on articles. I believe his take will focus on politicians, arguing them to improve laws so as to reduce this type of discrimination. He will also want politicians to come up with strict laws that will punish those accused of discriminating others in view of their race or ethnic background. Blow will most probably talk of the Republicans and how they perceive discrimination. Many supporters of Romney supported him because of race and business orientation. He will perceive that many Republicans discriminate minority groups, as facts show that President Obama was supported mostly by minority groups, who included African Americans, homosexual people, the poor and immigrants (Blow). Everyone is entitled to their opinion and in this case, I will agree with the columnist as minority discrimination is a big issue and really needs to be addressed. Minority discrimination has caused a lot of damage in our societies. It has encouraged ethnic groupings as many who feel discriminated will cocoon themselves to groupings where they will feel comfortable and accepted. I would agree with Blow’s opinion that Romney could not get to white house because the minority groups did not feel he would address their issues properly. Many of those in the minority group feared that Romney will take them back to George Bush’s time, when they felt oppressed. Although the minority group thinks this way, there are no facts and evidence to this thoughts, thus it is just an assumption. However, most Democrats are minority, which gives a clear picture of how they perceive Republicans. I will also want laws to be implemented that will punish those who discriminate others. Civic education will also be necessary to help educate people on the effects of discrimination to the well being of others (Blow). I stuck to my original topic that I started with; this is because my topic is about an issue that is really affecting the society today. Many people and groups face this problem, thus it is a pressing issue that needs attention. I also wanted to give my opinions on this issue as I feel the need for it to be addressed. In the process of creating the essay, I have challenges in not giving opinions and arguments that are biased. This was quite a challenge, as sometimes, one tends to dwell on what he/she believes in or wish would be when saying views, instead of arguing based on facts on the table. Getting materials that are not biased to any side was difficult, as most of the materials are based on stereotypes or political affiliations. I made changes to some of the words I used, as I felt using them would portray biasness in my views. Giving my opinion on issues that I feel should really be addressed gives me a sense of pride. This is because I’m able contributing to the society by giving my views. I’m proud of being able to argue on Charles Blow’s articles, as he is an exceptional writer/columnist. Works Cited Blow, Charles. Is Romney Unraveling? New York Times, November 2, 2012. Web. November 14, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/03/opinion/blow-is Romneyunraveling.html? ref =charlesmblow Read More