 |
| This issue of Adbusters uses a hole in the middle of the person's head to represent the metaphorical hole in our psyches created by consumerist culture. |
Interestingly, the writer discusses how we are taught to be self serving and individualistic in order to get a good job. The problem is that "self serving" and "individualistic" are jargon exploited by corporations to manipulate consumers and employees to accomplish their goals.
This is the cult of self the author refers to. Author Chris Hughes writes,
It is the cult of self that is killing the United States. This cult has within it the classic traits of psychopaths: superficial charm, grandiosity and self-importance; a need for constant stimulation; a penchant for lying, deception and manipulation; and the incapacity for remorse or guilt...Hughes' article was an "Aha!" moment for me. I've noticed this "superficial charm, grandiosity and self-importance" often in the world of retail and job interviews. Working as a cashier at a retail store, I saw these traits within the upper management all the time. The managers always displayed creepy fake grins and high-fived employees for doing their jobs. They constantly bombarded us with corporate lingo while pretending they love their jobs just to advance themselves. I knew from day one they were not "pro associate" as they claimed.
I quit when the managers wrote me up for receiving a negative customer review that mentioned my name. A customer was not happy about having to ask twice to have her glass item wrapped. So, the managers sat me down and requested that I sign this write up. Of, course I refused to sign a write up for something I don't even remember happening.
The assistant manager wrote that I refused to sign it and required me to sign off on the refusal. Pointing her finger at me with a sinister scowl on her harsh face, she swore that from then on my behavior would be closely monitored. She wanted me to make the customers feel as though they were in Disney Land. Once released from the meeting, I made the decision to gather my things and quit.
There is also "a need for constant stimulation" in these jobs. Management always wanted us to have something to do. Even if I completed all the tasks required of me in the dressing room or at the register, the managers are always trying to find busy work for me to do.
There was a tine when I finished organizing the accessories on the displays outside of the dressing room and all clothes were floor ready, and I decided to write some story ideas in my notebook to clear my head. Unfortunately for me, the managers do not take kindly to free-thinking creativity in their store. They happened to be observing employees that day just in case auditors visited. Of course, they caught me writing in my notebook, ganged up on me and handed me a paper with "customer service guidelines" on it.
It was as though they thought me ignorant of my duties. I was perfectly aware of my job requirements, and business was slow so, so I needed a little down time to write. I told them all of my work was done, and I was just taking a moment to clear my head of some story ideas.
"It"s therapeutic to me in such a mind-numbing job," I told them as they stared at me, blinking in confusion. Apparently that wasn't a satisfactory answer, so they proceeded to talk to me about the importance of always performing mindless tasks unless I was on break. The store manager called my writing, "an offense" and gave me a warning.
Lesson learned: When working for a retail corporation, one always needs to appear busy even when all duties are finished.
Hughes also brings up the fact that there is always "a penchant for lying, deception and manipulation; and the incapacity for remorse or guilt" within our economy. For example, when we go for a job interview, it is considered appropriate to remove all facial piercings and wear "job appropriate clothes." Normally, that constitutes black pants/skirts/dresses, white shirts/blouses, and black shoes. Job candidates must put on airs and justify why we're better than the previous and interviewees. Pretend to be a clean-cut man or woman with no taboo in his/her life.
Okay. I understand the importance of highlighting your skills and qualifications for a job, but I don't see how your clothes reflect how well you can do that job. It makes sense in a superficial society when employees judge a lot based on appearance. It doesn't make sense to me after mulling it over in my head again and again.
Is this not deception and manipulation? Lay on that superficial charm with the fake smile, and pretend you're happy to see your interviewer when you would rather be on your couch, writing and drinking tea with cookies. We may as well get plastic surgery to keep a permanent smile on our faces at all times. Make customers feel as though they've been to Disney Land.
Hughes continues,
...And this is also the ethic promoted by corporations. It is the ethic of unfettered capitalism. It is the misguided belief that personal style and personal advancement, mistaken for individualism, are the same as democratic equality. It is the nationwide celebrations of image over substance, of illusion over truth. And it is why investment bankers blink in confusion when questioned about the morality of billions in profits they made by selling worthless toxic assets to investors.Basically, the people who run corporations and banks are psychopaths because they do not think or care about the morality of their decisions.
Hughes states that the cult of self is "the misguided belief that personal style and personal advancement, mistaken for individualism, are the same as democratic equality." Rather than everyone having equal opportunity for advancement, it is about whoever is the biggest, baddest cutthroat or manipulator in the office, store or company. The managers at my store didn't get to where they want to be by being outspoken about workplace issues such as wages and unions. Rather, they were promoted for constantly ingratiating themselves to customers, upper management and corporate bigwigs.
The last line of that segment describes investment bankers blinking in confusion "when questioned about the morality of billions in profits they made by selling worthless toxic assets." They don't care about the truth. If they ever did, they learned to push such thoughts out of their minds to do their jobs. CEOs, investment bankers or store managers, didn't get to where they are by being honest with themselves or their employers. So, when I told my managers I wrote in my notebook because retail jobs are mindless and suck, they stared at me in silence. The "cult of self" warped their minds to see only profit instead of morality.
To close, Hughes writes,
We have a right, in the cult of the self, to get whatever we desire. We can do anything, even belittle and destroy those around us, including our friends, to make money, to be happy and to become famous. Once fame and wealth are achieved, they become their own justification, their own morality. How one gets there is irrelevant.I couldn't have said it better myself. My managers were trained, as the managers before them, to belittle us with corporate lingo, even though they think it motivates us. We are all adults, yet we get high-fives for doing our jobs instead of a simple "thank you." That's how a teacher treats six-year-old students. Where does this leave all of us employees? We go home every day feeling disgruntled and exhausted from giving customers satisfaction while we get none in return.
The least a boss could do is say, "Hey, let's be real. None of us want to be here. Let's get together and bitch about horrible our jobs are and get drinks." I would like a lot more than seeing their cheesy grins while being told to give 100% customer service and being paid the lowest wage an employer is legally allowed to pay us.
But if you say that to them, they'll blink in confusion at you.
