Philadelphia as a Representation
Lincoln Steffens shared several opinions and thoughts on the corruption and content of Philadelphia during the beginning of the 20th century. ... In Philadelphia: Corrupt and Contented, Steffens makes several argumentative statements and attempts to defend his views with valid evidence. One point that Steffens makes clear is that Philadelphia is representative of every city in America. Steffens implies in his writing that the corruptness of Philadelphia is used as a scapegoat by the people of other American cities, enabling them to deny their own problems and feel secure about themselves (Steffens 134). The reader is able to understand this implication because of the quote stated, “Other American Cities, no matter how bad their own condition may be, all point with scorn to Philadelphia as worse; “the worst-governed city in the country”” (Steffens 134). By adding in the phrase, “the worst-governed city in the country,” the quote is much more effective and the reader gets a sense of the true hatred and bitter feelings towards Philadelphia. Furthermore, he points out the hypocrisy of the other cities in America by starting off his sentence telling the reader that the other cities already have bad conditions and they still criticize Philadelphia.