Jonathan Lethem The Ecstasy Of Influence Analysis

Keeping in mind the ultimate goal of maintaining stability, the community’s passivity is essential to prevent the advent of change that would disrupt social order and endangers the dominant classes’ status. Reversely, an active community, helping individuals integrate, would be promoting change, which opposes the conservative ideology. The advocacy for passivity, ignoring the individual’s need for help, is opposed repeatedly in Superman Earth One, for instance in the second volume, after Clark’s second battle with the villain, a “Parasite” absorbing people’s energy. Right after the battle, Clark, still dressed as Superman, has to drag himself on the street, completely powerless, weak and unable to fly. Despite his injuries, he manages to change his clothes and walks back to his apartment, meeting many people on his way but never receiving any help.

Individuals need to find a way to deal with their environment. In “The Power of Context,” Malcolm Gladwell introduces the power of environment and how society influences people’s behaviors. He suggests The Broken Windows Theory, which argues that crime is contagious because little acts of crime, such as graffiti and broken windows, develop into bigger crimes, such as murder. This is reinforced in “How to Tell a True War Story” by Tim O’Brien, because the piece explores how people deal with the negative affects of war. In "Wisdom," Robert Thurman introduces how important “selflessness” is.

People joining the police were hired solely off of experience, education, and screening for ones well-being, incorruptible character and fitness. Herbert Hoover joined Wickersham Commission to look into ethical issues that could be instilled in the criminal justice system in which they did find a lot of police misconduct. The Wickersham Commission was put in place to possibly fix police misconduct. The advantage with reform era was that the officers were more educated, and trained to be a police. This policing era was more motorized to get the citizens in other areas.

The binary opposition between order and disorder is established in modern societies and the classical formula of detective story resembles that of how a society is supposed to function: social order is of utmost importance; anything that has the possibility to disrupt the well-being or order should be carefully guarded against or avoided. The initial understanding of the structure of City of Glass resembles the elements of modern texts: the detective Paul Auster who is impersonated by Daniel Quinn, is hired by Peter Stillman Jr. to follow his father who is recently released from prison to ensure that he will not seek revenge from him. Peter Stillman Jr.’s father, who bears the identical name, was imprisoned for he has “lock[ed] [Stillman Jr.] in a room in the apartment, covered up in windows and [was kept] there for nine years” (26). Putting all the efforts in tracing Stillman Sr.’s whereabouts, Daniel Quinn failed. Until this point, the plot follows that of a classic detective fiction.

Citizens of New York saw the zero-tolerance policy as taken out of context. Former Mayor Giuliani was enforcing that police take all crimes seriously. Police would have had to enforce minor offenses as serious as major offenses, which would not be fair to citizens. “Late in Giuliani's first term, the broken-windows approach morphed into zero tolerance” (Rosen 26). The broken-windows theory was enforced before zero-tolerance policy and the Mayor transitioned into a more strict policy for reducing crime.

Individualism is not allowed anymore and the society is ruled by the Council. It is looked at as another Dark Age. Because of this new civilization Equality sees himself creating a new society for himself and his newfound love, he has to overcome the transgressions the City has, to live through with his image of individuality and love. The first sin the City has

Another issue with the Constitution requiring warrants, are police investigations being delayed. Like said before, warrants are not created right away and need time to be issued. Also under old law a new warrant were to be issued for each investigation even on the same person. Within all of this extra time criminals are able to hide any type of evidence there might be and do whatever it is to remain not guilty, only making it harder for the police and government to investigate or collect evidence. Surveillance and other investigations not only need warrants but judicial oversight that also takes time away from police investigating.

I seem to be wandering off in search of Lord knows what, Lord knows where. We will take a new sheet of paper, if you please, and begin over again, with my best respects to you.”(23). The exasperatingly long-winded Mr. Betteridge cannot focus on the information that would be helpful to discover who took the diamond, this annoys this reader because the discovery of diamond is often overshadowed by whatever Mr. Betteridge decides to write about (most likely it is about Robinson Crusoe).Wilkie Collins chose Mr. Betteridge to tell the events leading up to the stealing of the diamond for exactly this purpose. Therefore, the reader has no idea how to sort out what is relevant and what is extra information. When Franklin declares that he does not believe in medicine and thus highly offends Mr. Candy, it appears to only be extra details that Mr. Betteridge included in one of his many tangents.

The professional or reform era ascended due to the impact of the steps taken to separate police works from the influence of local politicians (Kelling & Moore, 1989). Even though time has carried us to the community era of policing, still corruption is a serious challenge for effective policing. Some police officers do not even understand what an act of corruption is, while others rationalize

This is the creative spirit within man that completes the appreciation of beauty. The concept of genius brings to the fore the element of the creative production of rules that are evident both in the creator and in the recipient. Genius is not a pedantic adherence to rules, but it “exhibits a free sweep of invention and thus the originality that creates new worlds” (ibid., 46). It is the spirit that creates, judges and enjoys simultaneously. This supersensible substrate in man that permits man to make a harmonious blend between nature and freedom is genius; genius that subordinates taste and makes it secondary.