English Lesson 80 Essay

“Why do you think Plunkitt was so open about how he made his money?”

Plunkitt often says in his book that he earned most of his money by buying land that he knows the government will need later, and then selling it to them at a higher price than what he bought it for. He called money that you earned honestly, “honest graft” and money you got illegally “dishonest graft”. He also explained many times in his book about how he always earned his money the right way, and how much he strongly disliked people who earned money dishonestly and illegally. He also never flaunted his wealth, because he wanted other people to see him as an equal, not as a snobby rich guy. He stated in his book that showing off all your wealth ruined your chances at ever becoming a successful politician.

I think that there could be multiple reasons that Plunkitt was so open about how he came by his money. The most likely was probably so that people could see that he earned his money honestly and legally. There were probably a lot of people who thought that since he was so rich, he must have made some of his money using sneaky or illegal methods. By telling everyone so many times about how he made his money, he could reassure some of those people that he was only using honest and respectable methods to earn his money. Another reason could be for publicity. Politicians who used questionable methods to get money or who stole from the public treasury would most likely keep their methods of earning money to themselves. Not many politicians would talk about exactly how they earned their money, unlike Plunkitt, who was always talking about it. This probably brought some attention to his name.

Hope you enjoyed reading this, please leave a like or comment below if you have the time! Bye!

~Caitlin 😁

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