Our Cheating Hearts
Meanwhile, millions of Americans routinely engage in insurance fraud, cable-TV theft, and software piracy. What's so amazing is that many of these same people see themselves as decent, law-abiding citizens. What does it all mean for our society? David Callahan's book The Cheating Culture argues that Americans are not only cheating more, they're feeling less guilty about it. They think there is more to gain by cheating than to lose. Inflamed by envy-remember the success of the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous?-they seek to keep up not with the Joneses but with those who are much better off than the Joneses. The amount of money Americans feel necessary to fulfill their dreams has nearly doubled over the past nine years, from $50,000 a year to over $90,000.
Money, quite simply, has become more important to many people than reputation and personal integrity. The worship of success has long pervaded American culture, but this is something else again. Of course, millions of Americans work hard and play by the rules, but too many others cheat and cut corners. Why? Money. Take performance-enhancing drugs. Obviously, there's a clear connection between performance and paychecks.
This calls to mind the difference between shame cultures, where it's bad to get caught cheating, because of public obloquy, and guilt cultures, which rely on an inner voice telling individuals not to do wrong. America has long been a guilt culture. Are we really shifting toward a shame culture today?
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