Scandals are useful because they focus our attention on problems in ways that no speaker or reformer ever could Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the recommendation and explain your reasoning for the posi

Scandals can be useful in focusing our attention on problems in ways that a speaker or reformer can not—a picture is worth a thousand words, after all—but they are still inherently undesirable and should be a standard that we personally and collectively reject strive against. We have witnessed many scandals that made us reconsider our national priorities and stilled our resolve to institute a more balanced and a fair society; but unfortunately, we have also seen many that demoralized the strength and vitality of the youth. For the reasons described below, I advocate an inquisitive and vigilant attitude towards them.

In the 1980s, America witnessed a major political scandal involving our president Richard Nixon. He hired personal agents to spy on his political enemies, he wiretapped the personal residences of his citizens, and displayed a general attitude of bribery and intimidation. His overall demeanor during the Watergate scandal—his lies, impertinence, swaggering, and general unrepentant nature—demonstrated to a lot of Americans, in a way no formal treatise can, that we can easily devolve into tyranny in the hands of an elected official. His behavior generated a storm of negative press and popular antipathy towards him and the presidency, and it ultimately resulted in his resignation—he likely would have impeached anyway. It also resulted in the enactment of legislation to restrict the office of the presidency. This demonstrates that though scandals are poignant and can be useful for highlighting aspects of society needing further development, they are still morally reprehensible and can generate a lot of resentment in the process.

Similarly, the Kim Kardashian sextape of the 2000s highlighted the wrong things about leadership and celebrity. However because this case occured in an aspect of culture that has very little checks and balances and has traditionally been difficult to police, it resulted in a general weakening of the moral compass of the youth. Many young people desired instant fame and utilized technology for gratifying temporal desires and shortsighted gains. Many students acted out the Kardashian episodes in schools instead of listening to their teachers and investing in their own education. And what is a teacher but a speaker: this demonstrates that scandals can be too overwhelming for even a speaker to rein in. This particular scandal was not useful to society because it undermined young people’ engagement with their community and in the people who are personally vested in the long-term success. In countermanding interest in their own personal education, the Kardashian scandal generated an unexamined life that Socrates said isn’t worth living.

Going further back in time, the scandal involving Galileo and the Catholic Church solidified the scientific method and stilled the people against tyrannical powers. Galileo’s house arrest and harassment by the inquisition for daring to use his mind really beared on the general population of Europe that they cannot countenance a theocratic regime, and over time it resulted in the age of Enlightenment and the French revolution. This and other similarly flagrant abuse of power sowed the seeds that would spurn several treatises on fair society and the role of government—social contract theory—in the following centuries. Galileo’s scandal, though undesirable, still brought out a lot of personal accountability and introspection in that it caused the people to seek out a thorough examination of society. By the 1700s, Enlightenment literature filled the desks and libraries of the French people. Overall, we may have to designate the scandals between religion and science as benign because they focused the people and led to an improved and intentionally constructed societal structure.

In concluding, we see positively in the Nixon and Galileo cases that an egregious scandal can spurn active engagement in the community, while negatively we see in the Kardashian example that scandals can also drive a wedge between individuals and authority figures—like teachers—who are vested in their success. It is the duty of journalists and mass media to present scandals in a way that intellectually engages and hopefully positively constructs the elements of society.