The Lie Factory Summary

After reading both stories, I found that I enjoyed Stephanie Ericsson’s, “The Ways We Lie” the most. This story was very interesting and made me think of many different things. I did not realize that there were so many different ways to lie. I was guilty of doing a few of them. After reading the section about the white lie, I realized that I do this sometimes without even noticing it. Ericsson gives the example of when your friend may look terrible one day, but you tell them that they look nice just so they would feel better. Most people, along with myself, do not see this as a bad thing because you are doing something good for someone else, but either way you are still lying. As I continued reading, I was also shocked about a few parts, especially

‘Despite several attempts to regulate campaign finance, money increasingly dominates the U.S. Electoral process and is the main factor contributing to a candidates success’ Discuss (30 marks)

They point to the fact that a third party candidate has never won an election for the presidency (Duvall). When an individual feels he or she’s vote is wasted, they are overlooking the fact that an unprincipled vote is the only wasted vote. Voting the lesser of two evils is still evil and is something that shouldn’t be instilled in future generations. If one thinks the Republican or the Democrat really does best mirror their beliefs, by all means, vote for that candidate. But if one doesn’t, he or she is helping to preserve the status quo they probably

Amidst the late 19th century, the rise of political machines tantalized the longing, from many, for a post-Civil War reconstruction which would have been punctuated by an ethical, aiding government. The aforementioned political machines were small networks which offered services to voters in exchange for economic or political gains. While these groups aided many groups, including immigrants, many political machines fell victim to corruption. The reason being, once the candidates from said machine came into office, these men would use their political standing for personal gain. For instance in the case of the Tweed Ring Scandal, William Tweed, the boss of the Democratic political machine, headed a group of politicians who sought to defraud New York. The provided excerpt, which outlines one scheme which was orchestrated by Mr. Tweed, reads “One scheme, the construction of the New York County Courthouse, involved extravagant graft. The project cost taxpayers $13 million, while

A benevolent lie is when someone tells a lie, but not with the intentions of harming anyone in the process but to help the person to whom it is told. This type of lie is better known as the harmless little white lie. After reading chapter three I have concluded that to many unconscious benevolent lies are told at my house. Learning about this topic pointed out how often it happens without notice, for example my little girl just lost her front teeth and asked me if she will look pretty for her school pictures. My reply was “You’re going to be the most beautiful girl in the world!” Which she is beautiful to me no matter what but not to the world. I have told her the tooth fairy is real leaving money under her pillow in exchange for each tooth she loses. Also guilt for the story about Santa and how he gives presents when she’s been good or no presents if she’s been bad that year. This benevolent lie is to benefit me I guess to threaten her when she misbehaves. Another example is my second born goes around saying she is my favorite child so, I just agree that she is my favorite child but not to tell her sisters so their feeling won’t get hurt. They’re all my favorite in their own special little way not just her. These benevolent lies just keep coming. This one my oldest daughter had a pet fish that she cared for. The fish recently died so I had to replace it before she came home. She noticed it looked a little different and asked if I noticed anything dissimilar. I replied, “No

In discussions on the topic of lying, a controversial issue has been whether there is justification of lying or not. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of if there is ever a time when a lie can be told for the good of someone else. Whereas some are convinced that lies should never be told, others agree that there are certain instances where lying is acceptable because the liar protects the one lied to. In the essay “The Ways We Lie” by Stephanie Ericsson, she explores the types of lies and how they affect everyday people. In Anton Chekhov’s fictional story, “The Lady with the Dog,” he displays two characters, Dmitri Gurov and Anna Sergeyevna, lying for love and to avoid consequence by their spouses. I stand against lying for the benefit of oneself because I think that it has the ability to ruin relationships or friendships and is hard to keep up the lies which leads to creating more lies. Although some people think that there are circumstances that warrant lying, I claim that no one should lie because lies end up hurting both people involved: the liar and the person lied to.

Boss Tweed is the best example of machine politics. He was in charge of the “Tweed Ring” in New York City. Machine politics worked wonderful in New York City where the Irish stuck together and used machine politics to their advantage(Mandlebaum 28). Tweed gained control over the police officers allowing him to exercise control over contracts of jobs. The Tweed Ring stole more than two hundred million dollars from the city and state (Mandelbaum 97). In 1872, the New York Times exposed and the lawyer Samuel Tilden exposed Tweed and destroyed his career (Mandelbaum 199).

The rapid growth of American cities in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s created huge problems for the government that ran the cities as in most cases in was very poorly structured and could not really give the people what they needed. It is because of the inability of city government to provide these things to the people that there was a rise in political machines. These political machines gained support from the population by providing houses for people who needed them and by also offering people jobs that they desperately needed. This gave the political machines a lot of power and support from there loyal followers.

As seen in Document C, in 1887, a labor leader illustrated the enormous amount of control large corporations had not just in the American economy, but also in American society as a whole, specifically in politics. The amount of control and influence these businesses had on politics was massive. As seen in Document D, Joseph Keppler’s political cartoon from 1889, shows the massive corruption in the political system to the degree that he stated that the U.S. Senate was no longer for the people, but now for the big business monopolies. The American people responded to the unrivaled influence of corporations in politics by forming political and economic organizations that were intended to restrain the monumental influence of big

The other reason why Electoral College can’t best represent the people is because only majority of the state's votes count, but the rest are not important or used. This is very important because the smaller states do not really get a say in government while the larger states are in control. Although most people’s vote count toward the state's votes same do not. I think it’s a big problem that not everyone is getting represented and that needs to change. Everyone should have an equal say in who they want to be president and the Electoral College System needs to change for the better of the

Political machines were common to see after the development of a mass electorate and industrialization. During the mid-19th century, all males were able to vote and there were a multitude of jobs available due to the industrial revolution that occurred in the mid-1700’s until the mid-1800’s, this is when most boss systems arose. Many U.S. citizens considered themselves a body of voters before they would consider themselves laborers. With this mindset, they were able to build exponentially large and strong political machines which were held together by the use of bribing jobs and patronage.

The Electoral College fails to accurately reflect the nation’s popular will; a group of less than 700 people can’t perpetually know the nation’s opinion, this results in plenty (perhaps a majority of) Americans being disconsolate with whom they have as a leader. The group fails to be

The January 1903 issue alone featured an installment of Ida Tarbell’s groundbreaking history of the Standard Oil Company; Ray Stannard Baker reporting on a coal miners’ strike in Pennsylvania; and Stephens's own exposé of political corruption in Minneapolis.” As more and more journals were read people wanted change, it was until finally in 1911 legislative sessions that reformers passed reforms that helped fight against the corruptions of the “Big Business,” the most prominent political reforms were: Non Partisan, Primary Elections, the office block ballot, and Direct

am Sharon Cross, Kelly Cross' estranged mother; I write you as a fresh resource. Also,

The most important aspect in understanding political corruption in New York City during the Gilded Age would have to be identifying how these officials were able to come into power and gain support. In the book, Party Games: Getting, Keeping, and Using Power in Gilded Age Politics, the author Mark Summers has examined just that. The tactics and approaches to government and interaction with New York City citizens were something that was very unique as well as new to American society. The corrupt officials