Are People Born Generally Good Essay

I believe all people are born generally good, but are corrupted by society later on in life. When we are born we have no idea of what our lives will become. As we grow, we encounter people that affect us in good and bad ways. We then have to take it upon ourselves to decide what is right and how we handle situations based on our previous experiences. Hence these experiences make our lives and tendencies good or bad. For example, many studies have found that those who grow up in a â€Å"broken home† or dysfunctional family are more likely to develop habits of lying, being irresponsible, and hyper-sensitive of peoples opinions about them. This is a direct effect of experiences they encountered growing up, whether it be trying to avoid harsh consequences by lying, trying to please someone who never shows support (causing hyper-sensitivity), or not having an influential adult who teaches them how to complete tasks properly (becoming irresponsible). I believe everyone I have come in contact with has been good in the end, meaning everyone has some sense of good deep inside of them. Whether that is apparent to the everyday person is decided by the unique path they’ve had through life. When thinking about the success or failures of our representative democracy, I think of it in two sections, a social issues section and a financial policy section. Socially, I believe our country is extremely successful in protecting our personal liberties and freedoms. The representatives we elect have always had split opinions on controversial issues like drug legalization, abortion, and gay marriage, but have always made sure to protect our rights to assemble, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion, to name a few. Our government has always sworn and made sure to do the right thing and keep our constitutional rights intact, for the well-being of our public. We are given the right to have opposing opinions, and most people respect the right for people to do so. This is because of the general good people are born with. In these personal liberty issues our government takes the morally good stance of upholding the Constitution, even if a verdict against it may personally benefit them more. Albeit there are always the few bad apples who make the exception. Financially is where the negativity of society begins to show in our government. We are bombarded with images of the rich, powerful and famous, and told that this is the â€Å"new American Dream†. This is what we work to attain in life, but it is almost impossible to reach. So, once the few who do make it to the top (including the representatives we elect to government) they will do what it takes to keep that power and money, because that is what makes them successful in societies eyes. This can include a lot of what you hear about in the news including adding â€Å"pork† to bills, working with lobbyists, and shady campaign funding to ensure re-election. Unfortunately, this has become normal in politics. All of this is powered by negative social ideals that we are surrounded by. Thus the generally good representative, who may have started out truly wanting to help his nation, becomes corrupt.