Summary Of Callahan's Cheating Culture

In order to get ahead and succeed in life, many Americans in our society today are throwing away their morals and creating what is named by Callahan as the "Cheating Culture". In the preface of his book, he claims that Americans who choose to cheat within this culture are welcomed and praised. It occurs in a variety of areas including business, sports, and education. This has resulted in what is described as a "Winner-take-all-society" in which everyone has become more competitive. Throughout the book, Callahan explains the problems that have lead to the development of cheating as a norm with the use of numerous examples from corporate scandals to situations that happen in everyday life like downloading free music. He then goes on to offer solutions on how to change the culture to offer equal opportunity and maintain integrity. The following problems that result in this culture are as followed: (1)Cheating is hard to stop when "everybody does it". People feel less guilty when they're not the only one doing it along with the belief that if everybody cheats and you don't, …show more content…
In a society of a dog-eat-dog environment with the "Winning class" getting their fame and fortune through the means of cheating without any real consequences, it leaves the "Anxious class" believing that if they don't cheat, they'll lose their only opportunity to be part of that upper class. It results in those who work hard and do what is asked of them cheating because they don't believe they're getting what they deserve for the work they provide. An example is on page 167 where it talks about bookkeeper who is an honorable man and gets all his work done on time. He one day gets the courage to ask for a raise of $100, but is denied. When the rules of the system seem unfair, people create their own moral system and as explained above, will fix it themselves if necessary. This caused the man to steal $100 a