Why Does Wealth Corrupt

In class this past week we have been looking at the similarities between two of F. Scott Fitzgerald's pieces: "The Great Gatsby" and "The Diamond As Big As The Ritz."  In both stories we follow people who are very wealthy and shows signs of their corruption.  In "The Great Gatsby," this is seen in many of the characters including Tom Buchanan.  Tom is a very wealthy man who is married to Daisy, but he cheats on her with Myrtle Wilson and is open about that with all his friends.  Gatsby himself is shown as corrupted when he is pulled over by a cop while speeding and an exchange happens between them that lets Gatsby off the hook.  In the other story, the corruption is even more prevalent.In the story, the Washington family has deceived the government surveys and even still has slaves all so that they can maintain their wealth.  Braddock Washington even accepts that he is corrupted and cruel, responding to the accusations with "Cruelty doesn't exist where self-preservation is involved."  Now we have to wonder why these people became corrupted and how the wealth plays into that.  I think the reason for their corruption is that with their wealth, the people feel they are untouchable and can't get in trouble for their actions.  Gatsby speeds and isn't the slightest bit worried that he will get in trouble even though he was performing an illegal action.  This is seen in the real world as well.  Many children born into wealthy families commit crimes and don't even seem to care because their parents know someone influential in the legal system or could easily just pay the bail and get their child out of prison.  In doing so, they are reinforcing their child's bad behavior by showing them that the negative consequences of their actions are negligible.  So it shows that wealth and power, even in the real world, fosters corruption due to making the person feel like their actions hold no negative weight towards others.