Who could imagine that a show detailing the life of a chemistry teacher who turned to a life of drugs and crime become one of the greatest television dramas? What made this story so appealing to those who watched? Consider this quote, "Who are you talking to right now? Who is it you think you see? Do you know how much I make a year? I mean, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe it. Do you know what would happen if I suddenly decided to stop going into work? A business big enough that it could be listed on the NASDAQ goes belly up. Disappears! It ceases to exist without me." ("Cornered.")Breaking Bad these comments were made by Walter White and he was the creation of director Vince Gilligan. The drama was Breaking Bad and it ran from 2008 to 2013. The quote illustrates the effect of power on an individual and ultimately what corruption it will lead to for that individual to remain in power. The topic of power and corruption is certainly relevant in our world today and has been as far back as history can recount. .
My topic is what the effects of power and corruption is and what impacts does it have on us as humans. Here is a quote from Walter White that may give us some indication, "You clearly don't know who you're talking to, and so let me clue you in. I am not in danger, Skyler. I am the danger. A guy opens his door and gets shot, and you think that of me? No! I am the one who knocks." ("Cornered")Breaking Bad Looking back through history we can see power and corruption as far back as we would like. In our 200 year plus history as a country we can see this very clearly in the mid to late 1800's. Several men rose to prominence during this timeframe and controlled a variety of industries. Three men in particular stood out above the crowd, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie and Cornelius Vanderbilt. One point of commonality they shared with Walter was at one point in their lives they were all relative unknowns but all became leaders in their respected industries.
