The decision to act against the establishment is never a simple decision and often involves the escalation of internal and external conditions for the whistleblower. Once Wigand in The Insider becomes aware of B&W’s involvement in making the cigarettes more addictive, he is fired for refusing to support the company’s actions, but refuses to disclose anything to the public. Only after an arduous cycle of institutional pressure and a series of internal realizations does Wigand decide to reveal B&W’s heavily guarded secrets. Despite successfully alerting the public of the tobacco industry’s practices, the conclusion of the movie is far from a happy ending as Wigand loses his family in his crusade against rampant institutional corruption in the …show more content…
Though Wigand’s testimony in Mississippi divulges the practices of the tobacco industry that patently ignore the public good in search of self-gain, the setting of the court case and Wigand’s gag order evinces much more regarding the sway of big business. Kentucky’s restraining order is an indication of how commercial and political power are entwined in this film as the order is undoubtedly formed out of pressure from B&W. Once the gag order is delivered, Wigand acquires another adversary in the form of the state of Kentucky. Even the seemingly impartial laws of Wigand’s home state are swayed by the massive power the tobacco industry commands. When Wigand seems to have found redemption through the state of Mississippi as Scruggs expresses his interest in hearing what Wigand has to say, the Governor of Mississippi declares his alignment with big tobacco through suing his own attorney general to drop litigation. Through this scene, Mann illustrates that the power of big business extends even to the court of law. Wigand’s quest damages the integrity of government as it reveals their alignment with big business to the public despite claiming to represent the people. Because Wigand’s goal shifted from defending his family to doing what is publicly right, his quest is a success with heavy loss as the public is more aware of the influence that big tobacco exerts on every aspect of society at the cost of his family and
In the movie, A Civil Action, personal injury lawyer, Jan Schlichtman and his law firm, file a law suit against Beatrice Foods and W.R. Grace & Company. The prosecution’s case is based on the premise that these two leather companies contaminated the water supply, in Woburn, Massachusetts. The motion brought before the court requested that the eight plaintiffs be compensated for “negligence, conscious pain and suffering, and wrongful death. ”1 Schlichtman presented medical evidence that illustrated an unusually high incidence of cancer in the small town of Woburn.
In the movie, A Civil Action, the plaintiff’s case began when a group of various parents and families believed that the health related issues and deaths in their city of Woburn was the result of contaminated water. Although the attorney, Jan Schlichtmann, was reluctant to take the case at first because they didn’t have plausible cause, he realized that 2 corporations sat at the border of the river. Mr. Schlichtmann and his firm thus took the case and file a major lawsuit which stated that the the two corporations, Grace and Beatrice, caused wrongful deaths due to the dumping of hazardous waste. The plaintiff side of this case then begins to collect scientific evidence and witness statements in order to prove that both Grace and Beatrice were
As a result of this, there were a disturbing amount of casualties. Newark and even the rest of the country opened their eyes after this horrific incident resulting the country forced to reinforce their safety regulations in the workplace making Newark city a prime example of change in labor conditions. Because of this factory fire, Newark improved their city with these new regulations and the city as a whole has become much safer to work in. The way an outsider, Hopkins, born and raised in Bangor, discusses the way labor was affecting the workers lives is unique because Hopkins learned of all this tragedy from others who have experienced it and not herself. We can see various ways labor identity is being formed by the people who are affected by the poor safety
In recent years, many Americans on both sides of the political spectrum have been showing very counter-cultural attitudes via the internet and their choice of president. These attitudes are similar to that of people living in the 1960’s. In that period of counter-cultural ideas, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, a counter-cultural book, was published. One major theme that frequently appears throughout the book’s entirety is Corruption of power, as the antagonist, Nurse Ratched, displays the tendencies of corrupt, undemocratic leaders throughout the novel, as the novel builds her up as being a very power-hungry individual. Nurse Ratched’s corrupt character, as well as her neglect of democracy in group sessions and neglect for the helpless mental patients shows that the purpose of Nurse Ratched’s character may have been to provoke thought about whether we Americans truly live in a fair and democratic nation.
Immigrants from the early 20th century came to America looking for jobs and brighter futures. Many were faced with harsh realities, especially those who were employed in the meatpacking industries. The wealthy exploited the weak and unemployed, using them to make their own profits, and Jurgis describes the society: “The city, which was owned by an oligarchy of business men, being nominally ruled by the people, a huge army of graft was necessary for the purpose of effecting the transfer of power.”(173) This made capitalism an oppressive and repressive society. Sinclair depicts the meatpacking industry's greed and corruption throughout the whole book, showing how businesses prioritize profit over the health and safety of their employees and customers.
After countless battles and many sacrifices, they succeed in taking down the boss, except Giorno steps up as the new boss and makes sure that any drug related activities are shut down. He went against the entire organization and succeeded in creating a better environment for the community. This story exemplifies that going against authority can help better the
In the Rio Grande Valley, public corruption runs rampant. The border city of Mission is a hot spot for drug traffickers and has become an area of concern for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program, also known as HIDTA, since the 1990s. Every day drug runners, private drug dealers, and the continuous flow of illegal immigrants create an atmosphere of temptation for law enforcement agents. Unfortunately, the small town of Mission has witnessed federal, state, and local law enforcement officers drift toward the dark side, letting temptation cast a shadow over their morals and beliefs.
Mark Twain once said, “No country can be well governed unless its citizens as a body keep religiously before their minds the guardians of the law, and the law officers are only the machinery for its execution, nothing more.” In the Gilded Age, which was from 1869 to 1896, politicians ignored their obligation to execute and protect the laws of this nation in favor of lining their own pockets. Presidential administrations and presidential candidates were often time could in corruption scandals that showed how they were stealing the American people’s money. The Grant administration probably being the most notable example of this corruption. Low-level political officers were also a party in the corruption of the gilded age, with corrupt big bosses
Why do we see variation in first-term president 's corruption? Previous literature of regional comparative politics only provide limited accounts of presidential corruption. In this paper, I provide a theory that presidential term-limit matters with regard to first-term president 's corruption. I argue that when a president is elected at the first time, a president who is under single-term presidency---presidency under which a president cannot be reelected due to constitutional limit---is more likely to perpetrate corruption than under multi-term presidency---presidency under which a president can be reelected at least one more term. It is attributed to whether reelection incentive exists.
After years, Bodie finally realizes the chess lesson. The lesson to learn is that the “king stays the king” and that never changes, everyone must know their proper moves, and their pawns are very much replaceable; which in turn determines every institution The Wire portrays: the drug culture, families, neighborhood, labor unions, politics, social welfare agencies, law enforcement agencies, the schools and media. The goals of the institutional players is to preserve or expand each one of their powers; and the goals of the institution itself is to perpetuate and protect themselves (Bandes). One final example is about Felicia “Snoop” Pearson, “an undersized women with an oversize swagger” (as cited in Penfold, Beer, & Borrows, 2011).
During the 1877 through 1920 the government's role wasn't really expanding, instead people were getting furious that the government weren't really doing anything to improve life so they started going on strikes, making unions, and bringing people of different cause together to try to force the government into being useful. However, this only led to political corruption, people saying they would do something to help the people and people would believe and put their trust into this "person" to only be blackmailed in the end. These "people" were called political bosses and they had their little organization or political machines and people would do them favors to gain jobs or etc. This growing "government" was a mixed bag for the American people,
Lastly, the criminal justice process or the legal consequences that the criminals face are right but not necessarily fair because occasionally the process supports corruption. In other words, the criminals and drugs dealers in the movie do not face the right legal consequences because the criminal justice process including the judges is corrupt. His life experiences with drug dealers, the drugs, and crime in the streets and the corrupt legal system contribute to Harris’
Truth, justice, freedom, care, and integrity are embodied in several scenes. Bud Fox faced an ethical dilemma where he found himself caught up and indulging in insider trading, which essentially alarmed the U.S.
The ethical dilemma that was illustrated in this film was bribery. This issue was also viewed very negatively, and as if the bribery offer was too small to even be taken seriously. There were two good examples of PG&E’s attempt to bribe the members of the Hinkley community to drop the charges against them, and even before that to accept that their health issues were not at all related to PG&E. The first example of bribery was shown when a PG&E
Allow me to depart from the original comic story to translate Wright’s illustration of class interests in capitalist society to render the mechanisms behind the emerging cannabis industry more visible. The story of capitalists looking for the right place to expand their businesses and extract cheap labor resembles the story of the DGH investment into cannabis industry in Czech Republic. While the Li’l Abner’s capitalists settled in the