Summary: Changing American Culture

August 5, 1981. A day that forever changed our American culture. It was on that day that President Ronald Regan fired more than 11,000 air traffic controllers, also banning them from working for the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) ever again. Even though the ban was lifted in 1993 by President Clinton, Simon Sinek, author of the 2014 book Leaders Eat Last, noted how this action may have alleviated a short-term problem in our country, but President Regan, in the process, inadvertently created a new, longer-lasting one: a disposable culture. With such implicit approval from on high, business leaders, other government officials, the media, and even the food industry put numbers ahead of people. Living, breathing people, those who

In his November 30, 2015 article on National Public Radio, David Ropeik describes a growing trend among Washington politicians to exploit issues just to get elected. Often times the issues that are in the front seat of the campaign bus get kicked under the tires once the candidate takes office. We as an electorate fail to hold them accountable and thus perpetuate the disposable culture of issues. Without accountability, the disposable culture’s clasp on ideas intensifies. Its origins unearthed, as we now explore how our disposable culture trashes our society, we’ll find mountains of problems large enough to trickle down to more and more Americans. Over the past decade, our disposable culture’s clutch on corporate America has increased, leaving workers the most expendable entity in business. Unfortunately for the workers, the losses are greater than just a paycheck. Chris Spargo, the December 24, 2015 edition of Daily Mail wrote about how Yahoo’s CEO, Marissa Mayer spent $7 million dollars on a Great-Gatsby themed holiday party, and then called for 9,000 people to be fired, which is nearly 75% of the Yahoo workforce. It’s a nationwide problem, and it’s one that treats humans as tools for stock holders’ and CEO’s

Corporate executives and board members must do more to eliminate the hire-and-fire desire. As the aforementioned Sinek book Leaders Eat Last showed, the Barry-Wihmiller company saw a 30 percent drop in sales when the stock market crashed in 2008. The company didn’t have revenues to justify keeping all the employees: layoffs became a real option. But instead, their CEO Chapman said, “It is better that we all suffer a little so that none of us has to suffer a lot.” Consequently, the employees showed gratitude for not being laid off. Those who could more afford the time off traded with those who could afford it less, all voluntarily. Instead of layoffs, the company used furloughs. Eventually, business picked up again, but the precedent for their company had been set: the strength of the company came through its employees…the