Journal 3-8 Max Bardowell 3-17-08

Amway: Company or Cult?

Answer to Last Week’s Question: While circumstances surrounding Brownie Wise’s removal from Tupperware are unclear, there seems to have been some trouble with her bookkeeping and finances that lead to irreconcilable differences between her and Earl Tupper, the owner of Tupperware. Unfortunately for her, Wise had no official contract with Tupperware. A soon as a year after her termination other company employees either didn’t know who she was or hadn’t heard from her in months. It was almost as if she had been erased from the collective memory of Tupperware. Creepy.

In several follow up questions to last week’s activities involving the Tupperware documentary, the Amway Company was mentioned. Upon further research it can be seen that Amway’s advertising, sales methods, and organization closely resemble that of Tupperware. There was also a strong opinion within the research I found that Amway and its employees resemble a cult organization, also similar to Tupperware. Amway’s followers certainly resemble religious zealots in some senses, as they are devoted to their company, its products, and the promise of a comfortable retirement to their core, attending seminars and conferences mirroring religious revivals, where the only difference is the absence of any divinity or religious code except the company values. More successful members of Amway get to present their stories of finding wealth through Amway at these seminars, bearing an uncanny resemblance to a testimony from a converted individual. Still, some of these connections are more transparent than others, and Amway could possibly be just another company that attempts to instill the corporate values of loyalty and trust to their employees through these team building group activities. However, the connections are there, and, as cult techniques have proven to be very effective unifiers in the past, I would not put it beyond Amway to try some of them out. Again, these techniques aren’t necessarily negative until a company takes them too far.

Question: What are the products that Amway sells?

Journal 3-7 Max Bardowell

Tupperware: Company or Cult?

Answer to Last Week’s Question: I could not find the exact origin of the term institutionalized prison. However, I believe it is simply a term that developed overtime as the symptoms of its manifestation developed as well. The effects prompted the label itself.

In Monday’s debate over the Tupperware documentary, the idea was presented that the Tupperware sales division could be considered a cult of sorts, evolving into an organization staffed by obsessive, devoted followers not by the company's choice, but by circumstance, or quite possibly in light of Tupperware’s overwhelming success, by providence. Their sales staff lived and breathed for the company, and this is what largely ensured that the Tupperware name would live on as the brand name for all things plastic within the kitchen.

The similarities that Tupperware sales shared with cult organizations are striking. The three most prevalent were the salespeople themselves, the rallies, and finally the iconic leader, Brownie Wise. The sales people were utterly devoted to selling Tupperware, not only due to their loyalty to the company, but also due to the great sense of personal pride that came with being a member of such a close-knit community. Once recruited, they would travel thousands of miles, relocating their entire families, just to secure a job with Tupperware, and once on staff they religiously attended the rally meetings, learning the Tupperware anthems and values in the process. The system closely mirrored that of an initiation. In the documentary, the former employees consistently and nostalgically pressed that their time spent at Tupperware was the greatest time of their life. Many broke down in tears.

The final and most clinching evidence comes in the form of Brownie Wise herself. Her persona, her methods, her close network of advisers, her followers, and her image, dripping with charisma and regality, all reeked of the single projection: cult leader. While this was seemingly unintentional, it did not go overlooked by Wise. The Tupperware sales group idolized her, and she used that for her own ends. While she helped the company more so than any other individual, she squandered her power and resources, another symptom of a cult leader. Still, she catapulted Tupperware to its past status, and kept it there for a great many years.

But is the cult methodology bad? Yes and no. It unifies and voices the company’s values more effectively than any other means, apparently even PR and HR gurus use cults as guides for their company’s image and department organization. However, they must beware of the many weaknesses of the cult organization, as they can bring down a company, just as they did with Tupperware.

Question: What ultimately brought about Brownie Wise’s removal from Tupperware?

Here is an old Tupperware infomercial. Notice their revolutionary advertising techniques.

Journal 3-6 Max Bardowell 3-3-08

Institutionalized Prisons

Question: The smart board is designed and manufactured by SMART Technologies who have 20 years of product design expertise. SMART is the industry pioneer in interactive whiteboards and other collaboration tools.

• http://smarttech.com/

We are a society built upon a system of punishments and rewards, and this fundamental fact can define how we interact both socially and politically far more readily than any other system. It is a reactive system, and thus begins with an action, whether positive or negative, that results in either a punishment or reward depending on the morality of the action itself. For instance, if you rob a bank you will be punished in proportion to your crime, as this follows the system’s protocols. However, if you perform well at work, you will be rewarded with a promotion or simply your monthly salary, as this to follows the standards of the system. It is a fairly basic system and leaves little room for interpretation, but unfortunately this fact could also hold the system’s most grievous flaw: redundancy.

We can become lost in this repetition of punishment and reward, as many parents learn early on as their children quickly become unresponsive to certain levels of punishment. This closed loop system leaves no room for growth and teaching, as the children become adapted to this crime/ punishment system so thoroughly that it becomes an ineffective deterrent. But this problem has evolved and grown far beyond the boundaries of the home. It now infects our penal system. At every level of our penitentiaries we find the phenomenon known as “institutionalized prisons”, where the prisoner knows the prisoner’s life for so long that they rely on the institution to define the structure of their lives. Drug dealers will simply allow themselves to be caught, as they find the punishment they receive is low enough that there is no need to risk their lives to avoid it. Criminals who commit a felony crime serve their time dutifully and then are thrown back to the streets with no job training and no one left to hire them. They turn back to the only thing they know- crime. It is a viscous cycle, nothing but a cruel and unusual punishment existing in broad daylight.

Still, we cannot have murders and criminals loose in society without having paid their debt to the nation, thus the catch- 22 forms; how do you punish an individual enough to influence his conscious decision making process without pushing him to become an institutionalized inmate. The solution begins with the addition of rehabilitation procedures to the penal system, where inmates will receive job training, education, and psychological aid in their recovery. The solution begins when we stop viewing prisoners as “convicts” and begin to see them as people.

Question: What is the origin of the term institutionalized prison?

Journal 3-5 Max Bardowell 2-25-08

Technology and the Modern Student

Answer to last week’s question: First, they should go to a resident student advisor within their dorm, and then, if the problem remains unaddressed, work their way to the higher echelons, such as the school counselors. The administration should only be involved in the direst of situations.

This week we discussed the various effects technology has upon our lives. It was spirited, as this is an aspect of society that is very intimate and close at hand to students, thus capturing our attention more than other ethical dilemmas that are more distant, dealing in philosophical values only apparent to those that deal with international diplomacy and crises.

We answered first how we divided our time between different resources available on the internet, including social networks, games, music and videos, and simply surfing for information. My groups’ time was dominated by social networks and music downloading, however, if I had to create a list, it would look like this:

I know this may seem like a disproportionate amount of homework time, but I try to do most things on the computer, and this is also a reflection of how dependant our educational system is on the internet and computers. I really have no choice. I simply need the vast amounts of information available on the internet to do most of my work, and many of the assignments some of my more environmentally conscious teachers are given on the paperless formats of the digital world. It is not only more convenient and paper saving, but simply easier for our generation to acquire, as we have been raised in front of an LCD screen. We are used to digital formats, and thus, this new style of teaching suits us better.

Question: What is the origin of the smart board, a popular and cutting edge teaching tool?

Journal 3-4 Max Bardowell 2-19-08

Conflict With Roommates

Answer to last week's question: The most popular programs are EVE- Essay Verification System, JPlag, and Plagarism.org.

Last week we discussed the complex ethic situations that one encounters when forced into a close proximity with others for a long period of time, mostly due to their inclusion in an academic environment. People tend to amplify the problems generated by these circumstances, and rarely do you find a group of individuals that can live in complete harmony with each other. Thus, many dilemmas can arise from these three main reasons (any others are simply offshoots of these three); first, there is a differing in lifestyles, second there is a difference in culture, and lastly there is a difference in personalities. All of these can be solved with the greatest of diplomatic tools: communication. Unfortunately, this tool is rarely used.

A difference in lifestyles can be anything from having differing sleep patterns to enjoying differing styles of music. This can lead to friction in the areas of priorities for the group, sleep and studying vs. partying and loud music for example. This can easily be solved by creating a schedule or calendar for specified activities.

A difference in culture is a harder potential problem to define, as this issue may not exist in some circumstances. This problem could develop more often when one roommate meets the family of another. Both roommates must take into account the various cultural practices of their fellow compatriots and act accordingly.

Finally, a difference in personalities comes in to play more often than the other two, as this reflects the compatibility of the two roommates. Thus, if two roommates’ personalities react abrasively to each other, you will have conflict, while if two roommates are mostly amicable with each other, then conflict will remain at a minimum. Each roommate must see each other for who they are, and respect the boundaries that would cause conflict. They must tread lightly or conflict will arise.

Question: Where can students go if they have seemingly unsolvable problems with another student?

Journal 3-3 Max Bardowell 2-11-08

Honor Codes

Answer to last week’s question: The quote- “Oh what tangled webs we weave/ When first we practice to deceive,” is from the successful Scottish poet Sir Walter Scott, author of Rob Roy, Ivanhoe, and The Lady of the Lake.

The subject of honor is of particular relevance to students, and, with the rise of improved forms of technology and consequently improved forms of cheating, it is becoming a more valuable commodity and character trait to possess. Schools and academic institutions especially find this trait desirable. Thus, they design a majority of their organization around a defined system of rules and guidelines known as an honor code. These codes are integrated into every level of the college, from the student teacher relationship to relationships involving the board of trustees. Most address the more established and primitive forms of dishonor, such as lying, cheating, stealing, and basic forms of plagiarism. They also address the “condoning” of unethical behavior. However, as time has advanced, many have been forced to amend their codes to include unethical behavior involving computer use. They hope to avoid any potential loopholes that could develop in tandem with the increased number of student forays into the world of internet databases and file-sharing.

This is a far more sophisticated form of cheating. With more students able to pull vast numbers of papers from the internet and from their peers, cheating is becoming harder to track and to prove. Yet, technology also opens doors to the intuitive teachers and professors who wish to match the fervor of their deceptive students. With programs like the ones that their students use to share information, teachers can root out suspected plagiarizers. Using advanced algorithms and word comparison programs, teachers now have the ability to stand on an equal footing. This is a major problem, and one that must be addressed if the sanctity of other’s grades is to be maintained.

Question: What are some of the programs used by teachers to root out plagiarism?

Journal 3-2 Max Bardowell 2-3-08

The Morality of Lying


Answer to Last Week’s Question: The actual text of the Golden Rule, as stated in Matthew 7:12 is, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

In our class discussions this week about the varying levels of friendship and community, we moved one day to the topic of lying, and how the morality of lying can affect a friendship. The first point that spawned the discussion was the idea that some friendships are at a level where it is acceptable, or possibly preferable, to lie to your friends when certain circumstances require it. An example: your friend asks you to come out on a Friday night when you really don’t feel like it. If this was a friendship of the good or even a certain friendship of pleasure, you might feel comfortable enough with that person to honestly tell them how you feel. However, most friendships could be damaged by that lack of involvement, and some friends might be offended by your lack of interest, even if you’re simply tired and you just want to stay at home and watch a movie.

Several ethical theories come into play here, including a priority ranking of your friends, the golden rule, and the greatest good. By ranking your friends, whether consciously or unconsciously and whether through Aristotle’s methodology or otherwise, you put certain values on relationships, and are thus able to distribute your time among them more effectively. You can also, in this situation, whether it is ethical or not (we’ll come to that later), decide which friends you feel you are able to lie to.

The Golden rule initially would tell us that you should lie to no one, as humanities visceral reaction is to be drawn towards the truth. However, when the circumstances of the truth could result in our harm, would we really wish to be told the truth? Now, I’m not saying that your friend stating that he doesn’t want to hang out with you could cause you physical harm, but if you don’t know your friend’s personality intimately, you could be offended by his lack of involvement in your relationship. So, would you want to be lied to?

This relates directly to the greatest good practice. Do the consequences of your friend discovering your lie outweigh the benefits of him not being harmed by your rejection of his offer to hang out? This is really a judgment call. You must judge the solidity of your lie, as well as your friend’s possible reactions to your negative response, and finally any future lies you many have to tell him to maintain your initial lie. All this in the time span between the point he asks you the question and the point when you should have generated an answer.

It’s a tricky business.

I don’t want to say it but I feel that I have to, “Oh what tangled webs we weave/ When first we practice to deceive.” This does ring true in this situation. So remember it. Whatever you decide, good luck.

Question: What is the origin or this quote: “Oh what tangled webs we weave/ When first we practice to deceive.”?