Plunkitt of Tammany Hall by Riordan Essay Example

and whatever correct is there in the world belongs to him! New York at the time of turn of the century, when the concepts of Keynesian economics and Welfare State were unknown, the people looked forward to Tammany for the solution of their grievances. Politics is always the clever game; it was so; it is so; and it shall remain so. The players may change. But the playing ground and the rules of the game are the same. Pumkitt’s time was different.

His style of functioning may not be possible in the present times, totally influenced by industrial, internet revolutions and materialistic civilization. Plumkitt is honest about his political adventures and the type of games that he indulges in. According to him, the method of his political game does not contribute to the misery of the people. This justification is difficult to accept but the poor people then had no other choice. Plunkitt was the despot as well and he could create and flout any rule unchallenged by any authority. Plunkitt of Tammany Hall was first published in 1905.

Initialy it appeared as a series of newspaper stories. Tammany Hall was an important landmark of political machinations of the era, specifically between the Civil War and the 1930s. Most of the politicians involved in the Tammany Hall politics had the feel of the Midas touch of politics and amassed wealth. Many died rich and some landed in jail. Plumkitt was smart and he knew the art of staying in power-- seek power, exercise power and retain power! He was not hesitant to talk about his graft-grabbing adventures and aired his views publicly about

the justification.

He was stubborn but kept the element of humor in his social disposition with the people. He swayed the people with his witticisms and people came to like him, without being actually aware as to why they liked him. He kept the Damocles’ sword of hope and American dream, dangling before them. Do the concepts of honest graft and dishonest graft make any sense? It is another type of political maneuver. If one draws money from the public treasury overtly or overtly, what if through legally safe means, one’s actions can not be defended.

An honest politician needs to function as per the dictates of one’s conscience. Plumkitt sincerely believed in his self-righteous actions. They profited him immensely, without any public harm (according to him) He may be intense and sincere in his uttering, but that is the self-serving philosophy of the politicians. He paints Tammany Hall as a benevolent organization, a meeting point for the poor. According to him, “I seen my opportunity and I took ‘em. ” This seems like the biblical virtue to him. What made him popular is his social disposition with the poor, his style of functioning, the wit and humor.

In the mess of political confusion, he emerges like the star on account of his sterling personal qualities, and he had the capacity to win over people and emerge successful in tricky situations. Dishonest politicians, the interest groups and businessmen whose sole motive is profits, make a deadly and dangerous combination for the people. If media also plays in to the hands of these vested interests, it is the ultimate calamity for the poor

people. One is reminded of the book Animal Farm, by George Orwell. The issue tackled by Orwell concerned human freedom and dignity.

Riordan discusses the issues in a free society-how ‘daylight and white collar robbery’ is possible and how rules can be flouted with impunity for self-aggrandizement even in the democratic set-up. How smart are the politicians, and how uncivil are the civil savants What is to be liked about Plunkitt is the disarming style of his dishonest functioning and he seems to convey that there is no other alternative for the politicians other than to lean on to graft in one form or the other. He doesn’t like intellectuals and the so-called men of principles.

He is candid about the support that he receives from the ‘interest groups’ and the support that he provides to such groups. It is all part of the give-and-take policy—you take care of my interests and I will take care of yours! Plunkitt became like a profiteering industrialist out of his political acumen. The one who was born in a shanty town died as a millionaire. Through the Tammany Organization he ‘sold’ the American dream to other immigrants and children of immigrants. They clung to the Organization hoping to better their prospectus in life.

The reality of big-city politics as it prevailed one century ago is lucidly explained in this book. The tools of exploitation of the people may have changed; but the principle involved and the game-plan of the politicians remains the same—rob people at all times, at all costs, and at every available opportunity. Make hay when the sun shines! Take the fullest advantage

of the opportunities, because there is no surety about the Chair and the Power. Do not keep anything pending for tomorrow. Snatch from the people, and remain on the guard to avoid retaliation from them.

Fool them by all possible means! Plunkitt knew how keep the patronage of his constituency in tact. He convinces one about the merit and necessity of dishonesty to a politician. Politics is trade for Punkitt. No trader does business to incur losses. Politicians work for commission not with mission. Since politics is also accepted as a game, the rules of the game are perfectly followed by the politicians, to practice power and to remain in power. The Tammany Hall titans had dire stakes to stay together for mutual advantage.

The first page of the book is dramatic and casts the shadows of the coming events of the political game as visualized and experienced by Plunkitt. He is the author of a ‘new theory’ related to politics, Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft. He says, “Everybody is talkin' these days about Tammany men growin' rich on graft, but nobody thinks of drawin' the distinction between honest graft and dishonest graft. There's all the difference in the world between the two. Yes, many of our men have grown rich in politics. I have myself.

I've made big fortune out of the game, and I'm gettin' richer every day…There's an honest graft, and I'm an example of how it works. I might sum up the whole thing by sayin': "I seen my opportunities and I took 'em. " (Riordan, 2006, p, 1) He gives the perfect example and the unassailable logic.

“Well, I'm tipped off, say, that they're going to lay out a new park at a certain place. I see my opportunity and I take it. I go to that place and I buy up all the land I can in the neighborhood. Then the board of this or that makes its plan public, and there is a rush to get my land, which nobody cared particular for before.

Ain't it perfectly honest to charge a good price and make a profit on my investment and foresight? Of course, it is. Well, that's honest graft. ”(Riordan, p, 2) The modern tender game played by the business houses is comparable to the example of granite stones mentioned by Plunkitt. He silenced into submission every possible bidder and they decided in advance not to bid in the auction as per an arrangement finalized to the mutual advantage of all. The public auction of stones was successful, procedurally it was perfect, but the government treasury suffered much loss in the process.

Plunkitt explains that as an opportunity and an example of honest graft. Conclusion: The book explains about the practical methods used by Plumkitt to make fortune through his political gimmicks and yet remain popular with the masses. He knew the pulse of the people and how not to hurt their sentiments. His logic about graft appeals to the emotions. He says, “Every good man looks after his friends, and any man who doesn't isn't likely to be popular. If I have a good thing to hand out in private life, I give it to a friend-Why shouldn't I do the same in public life? ”(P,

6) Plunkitt concludes by observing, “.

Is it any wonder that scandals do not permanently disable Tammany and that it speedily recovers from what seems to be crushing defeat? ”(Riordan, 2006, p. 133) . For a die-hard politician, victory or defeat does not matter much. What is important is permanent effort to succeed by adopting the ways of honest graft. The challenges confronted by the human society a century ago and today are different. Today, the situation is graver and the slight miscalculation by the politician is likely to endanger millions of lives. But the political style has more or less remained the same.

The root causes of the internal political conflicts are greed for money and power. Everyone agrees that a career in politics is the shortcut to monetary gains. To gain political ascendancy, the politician indulges in meanest of the mean acts. Instead of solving them, the politician happens to be the root cause of all sorts of social contradictions and conflicts. A sense of collectivity is disappearing; ethical norms are tattered; and such social ills as environmental decay, poverty, racial and social discrimination, and violence, which threaten co-prosperity of humanity, are all the more prevalent.

But these are all big, national issues of politics. The main thrust of Plunkitt Tammany Hall is honest graft and dishonest graft. Graft is the local as well as an international issue It is growing like then octopus, spreading in all directions. The issue is not simple as is made out by Plunkitt. In the ultimate analysis, it destroys the delicate social fabric of any country. Socially, it sets wrong precedents to the younger

generation.