What The Mitchell Report Says About Society
PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 11:55 am
"I'm shocked,SHOCKED,I say,that gambling is going on here!"
Claude Raines in 'Casablanca'
Remember that iconic moment when Raines' character is informed that
gambling has been going on at Rick's bar?Just a few moments after he orders the bar closed the attendant gives him his winnings for the night and he serediptiously stashes it in his coat pockets.
Many of us probably acted the same way when we heard the results of
The Mitchell Report on steroids and other performance enhancing drugs in
MLB.
Like Raines' character we reacted with a mock show of surprise.
But are we really that surprised that many of our pro-atheletes cheat to get where they are?
Is it any surprising when we live in a culture and society that often times
rewards cheating over honest hard work and effort?
Is it also anything but surprising that this should be revealed when the entire War on Drugs is nothing in and of itself a total farce now?
Barry Bonds ain't the only cheater around.He just happens to be the poster child of cheating.
Cheating goes beyond sports and permeates all aspects of our society.
In many ways it is the gate keepers of our society that are most to blame for the state of affairs today.
If a talented,gifted and highly intelligent student cheats on their exams or
papers teachers and professors may look the other way,it's best that we not even know that Johnny or Jane is doing this,after all Johnny or Jane are
bright lights of the future and will be running the country in a few years,so let's give them the benefit of the doubt.
On the other hand if someone who works hard and earns respective grades but is simply accused of cheating without evidence the attitude might be entirely different.
Cheaters do and often prosper in our society often because we allow them to.
It's not that cheating in any form is wrong,it's the way it reflects on our
moral compass as a society.
Ted Haggard may have gotten a pass because he cheated on his wife with another man,if he had been cheating on her with another woman he would certainly have been booted out of the NAE faster than the proverbial bat out of hell.
Not only that but we often help and abet the cheaters among us,knowingly so.
Bill Clinton was elected President twice because,and not despite of his
womanizer that made Bubba look like a good ol' boy.This was known
from the start but no-one objected much.
Indeed,if anything it is our overall attitude to cheating that is the best friend to our terrorist enemies.In the end it will not be a terrorist bomb that brings down Western society but Western society's lack of respect for morals and
living by the law.
Claude Raines in 'Casablanca'
Remember that iconic moment when Raines' character is informed that
gambling has been going on at Rick's bar?Just a few moments after he orders the bar closed the attendant gives him his winnings for the night and he serediptiously stashes it in his coat pockets.
Many of us probably acted the same way when we heard the results of
The Mitchell Report on steroids and other performance enhancing drugs in
MLB.
Like Raines' character we reacted with a mock show of surprise.
But are we really that surprised that many of our pro-atheletes cheat to get where they are?
Is it any surprising when we live in a culture and society that often times
rewards cheating over honest hard work and effort?
Is it also anything but surprising that this should be revealed when the entire War on Drugs is nothing in and of itself a total farce now?
Barry Bonds ain't the only cheater around.He just happens to be the poster child of cheating.
Cheating goes beyond sports and permeates all aspects of our society.
In many ways it is the gate keepers of our society that are most to blame for the state of affairs today.
If a talented,gifted and highly intelligent student cheats on their exams or
papers teachers and professors may look the other way,it's best that we not even know that Johnny or Jane is doing this,after all Johnny or Jane are
bright lights of the future and will be running the country in a few years,so let's give them the benefit of the doubt.
On the other hand if someone who works hard and earns respective grades but is simply accused of cheating without evidence the attitude might be entirely different.
Cheaters do and often prosper in our society often because we allow them to.
It's not that cheating in any form is wrong,it's the way it reflects on our
moral compass as a society.
Ted Haggard may have gotten a pass because he cheated on his wife with another man,if he had been cheating on her with another woman he would certainly have been booted out of the NAE faster than the proverbial bat out of hell.
Not only that but we often help and abet the cheaters among us,knowingly so.
Bill Clinton was elected President twice because,and not despite of his
womanizer that made Bubba look like a good ol' boy.This was known
from the start but no-one objected much.
Indeed,if anything it is our overall attitude to cheating that is the best friend to our terrorist enemies.In the end it will not be a terrorist bomb that brings down Western society but Western society's lack of respect for morals and
living by the law.