Dishonesty, corruption... or is it?

Earlier today, I was playing a game of Taboo with some family members and a friend. (For those of you unfamiliar with the game, one player attempts to get other players to say a specific word on a card using verbal clues, *without* using any of the other words on the card.) My father picked up a card, said, "This is a trait that no Chicago politician practices." Immediately, without hesitation, I blurted out, "Honesty!" Of course I was correct, to grins around the table.

While this may merely be an amusing anecdote about Chicago, my lightning-quick response got me thinking. I know that the generalization was a bit unfair - in fact, I'd just eaten lunch earlier with my state senator, and I trust him implicitly to both tell the truth and act in what he believes are the best interests of his constituents. I'm sure there are plenty of honest policitians in Chicago, but they do manage to hide rather effectively. No, what really started my comtemplation was not that the allegation of dishonesty was wrong, but rather how Chicagoans view this trait in politicians.

Chicago is fairly impressive in its history of corruption, backroom deals, political machinations, lies, payoffs, etc. Whatever vestiges that remain of Machine politics are rooted in Chicago - King Richard Daley the Second rules our city as a monarch, and his reign shows no sign of faltering (he's been mayor for 15 years, and will likely continue to be elected until he dies). The city always votes Democratic, acting as a very powerful counterbalance to more conservative chaps in rural areas downstate (and even in southern Illinois "conservative" does not mean the same thing as "conservative" in, say, Texas). Our City Council is a comedy to watch - more so because the aldermen are so clearly corrupt that they don't even bother hiding it. Our mayor destroyed an airport without as much as a by-your-leave with virtually no political reprecussions.

Yet if you ask an average Chicagoan what they think about the whole bit, they'll shrug, grin, and say, "hey, it's Chicago - we like it this way." What many others would view as a perversion of democracy, a waste of public funds, etc., Chicagoans merely view as the usual state of affairs, and a treasured one to take pride in, at that.

I began to ponder: just why are the citizens of Chicago content with this state of affairs? We see continual corruption, outright lies, hilariously mangled sound bites, and favoritism, yet never feel a need to complain. We're aware and fully cognizant of the state of things, yet simply don't care.

The answer lies in the fact that Chicagoans are similar to much of the Midwest - we are practical people. Less considered with high minded ideals, and more concerned with the mundanities of getting things done. And what's important about Chicago is that we're known as the "City That Works". I didn't notice this until I'd spent some time in other cities and towns, but it is quite true. In Chicago, things get done. We don't always ask how they get done, but they are completed. If a little bit of money or nepotism greased the skids, so be it - the end result is positive.

The way I see it, Chicago politics works like this: Mayor Daley decides he wants something to happen. For example, let's say he decides he wants the city to look greener. So, he lets this be known in a badly articulated press conference, talks to some urban planners and some important aldermen, and then sits back. The City Council passes some ordinances (say, that all new property improvements require a bit of "landscaping" or somesuch added... or that all new lampposts in alleys need to have greenery hanging from them, or whatever). Every new contracter is let known of Daley's new pet project (well, in reality this isn't new, it's been a priority of his for over a decade), and they incorporate more trees/plants/etc. into all of their designs - be they highways, office buildings, or athletic fields. This "essence" of Daley trickles down through the corrupt, back-pathways as people try to gain favor among higher ups (and bribes)...

The system may be corrupt and dishonest as hell, but it works. Roads get repaired, projects get finished, laws get passed, buildings get built... and generally, it makes the lives of Chicagoans even better. We love our city with a passion, and for fairly logical and well-articulated reasons. So what if things are a bit shady in the process? In fact, we revel in our corruption, as it is mostly of the benign or even beneficial variety, helping move things along.

True, some of the insanity about Chicago politics can be detrimental - look at the saga of Block 37 to see a perfect example. But most things seem to work better with our type of corruption, not worse.

More on this later - I'm tired.