The lesson is clear: at this stage in American history, the noble ideal of a government that serves all and protects the conditions that give rise to a healthy economy has a hard time prevailing against a political machine that focuses its energies on the single-minded goal of using federal favors to buy enough votes to win.
As cogs in a larger, purposeful machine, people become alienated from the traditional morals that guide human relationships as they pursue the goal of the collective organisation.