The possibility of cheating in certain circumstances may be inherent in all humans, kept in check for religious reasons, a secular sense of morality or the fear of being discovered and punished. People know that by cheating they can win contests, make more money and come out ahead in the game of life. Sexually, men and women may cheat on their spouses with other partners because of a particular attraction, to enhance excitement, to punish their spouse for something he or she did, or for no reason at all on the spur of the moment; just for kicks. With so much cheating in the news recently, the question is whether Americans tend to cheat more than citizens of other nations. Aside from sexual deceit, cheating is generally illegal and if the person or group is caught cheating, he, she, or they may face prison or fines.
Cheating in sports has probably been occurring since the first sporting contest, but has come to public attention recently because of the baseball cheating scandal involving the Houston Astros and possibly the Boston Red Sox. During the 2017 baseball season and the World Series, the Astros used electronic gear to steal signs from the opposing catcher to the pitcher. This information was relayed to the Astros batter at the plate who would know what pitch was coming, aiding him in hitting. Stealing signs is considered okay in baseball if it is done by players or coaches using normal vision and positioning, without mechanical or electronic aids. The entire Houston team knew about the cheating and the manager and general manager were subsequently fired and the team fined. The Red Sox manager was also fired for participating in the scheme when he was with the Astros.
Baseball has a long history of cheating with the use by players of performance enhancing drugs, and pitchers using spit or other substances on the balls to make them move in weird ways so they are more difficult to hit. Football has also had sign stealing and “deflategate” as evidence of cheating. Performance enhancing drugs have also been used in many sports including football, biking and soccer. Numerous other nationals have been caught cheating as well in various competitive sports. The Russians employed PEDs in their Olympic athletes and have been banned from the next Olympics.
But cheating in America seems to involve every facet of our lives. Our politicians, led by our esteemed president, are guilty of lying constantly as well as cheating. Going after a political rival using a foreign official and bribing him by withholding needed weapons is as blatant as cheating can be, but it was done by Trump with no regrets. However, Trump had cheated all of his life, getting out of the Vietnam War by claiming disability with heel bone spurs, and getting loans from banks by lying about his assets. In the impeachment trial, GOP senators took oaths to judge Trump impartially when some of them have actually been working with the president to exonerate him. That is blatant lying as well as cheating.
Besides politics and sports, we also have banks and businesses frequently cheating to make extra money for their executives, often to the detriment of their customers. For example there were Wells Fargo agents who concocted false accounts for customers so brokers would get bigger bonuses. And they added charges for unnecessary insurance to mortgages, causing people to default and lose their homes. The automobile emission scandals and the faulty airbags that caused multiple deaths are illustrations of business cheating their customers and playing with their lives. Boeing is another company that cheated by guaranteeing the safety of its 737 Max when it was not, causing hundreds of deaths.
We also have the cheating by wealthy parents to get their children admitted to elite schools, claiming they were on sports teams when they were not and having substitutes take the SATs for their children to raise their scores. The cheating was deemed okay to benefit their children. In fact, children cheat on tests in all levels of school if they think they can get away with it.
These are just a few examples of the widespread cheating throughout our society. And to date, no one has gone to prison for the various sorts of cheating mentioned above. Our society seems to tolerate cheating even when it claims lives or disrupts the lives of other citizens. It is a sickness that infects too many people in positions of power as well as ordinary citizens.
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020