Ammianus gives specific examples of Roman vices. He claims many Romans spent many hours drinking and gambling rather than maintaining the virtues that had been the strength of Rome. Callahan says that we Americans have developed a cheating culture. We cheat so much today that we do not even consider much of what we do as cheating.
Do you agree with Callahan? Do we all "cheat?" Should we consider students copying homework, athletes taking steroids to improve performance, or citizens hiding income to avoid paying more taxes cheating? Will this cause the United States to suffer the same fate as Rome?
Ask your parents to read the Ammianus and Callahan documents (yes, you can give your parents homework - you can even have them annotate the documents if you want) and have them post a response to this blog. I will give you extra credit if your parents get involved in this dialogue. Please have them identify themselves so I can give you credit!
Have fun!
Due by Monday, March 9. I will accept parental comments until March 10!
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31 comments:
Edward Cummins
Cheating does weaken our country. Taxes are not being payed and makes the nation suffer billions. We may not suffer the same downfall of Rome but we will endure in a weakening of the stability of our country. The cheating counterattacks to every field in the country in some way such as the government and finance. So yes I agree with Callahan and I do agree that we all cheat and that it affects something whether it is big or small.
i think that cheating to get ahead is a part of our culture. it causes problems because it sets high standards that are difficult to meet. most people hide their personal and businesses income to increase their payload. cheating led to our current financial crisis. but were not on the same path as rome. rome weakened its values much more severley than we have. the things amminaus has described are mostly confined to las vegas and atlantic city. while cheating is bad, it isnt bad enough to bring america down.
like eddie said, cheating weakens our country. steroids set a bad example for kids who look up to the athlete that uses them. when citizens hide income,the country produces less taxes and that will be detrimental to our country. if enough taxes aren't produced, there will be less police officers, firefighters and other jobs where the person gets paid through taxes. less jobs means less taxes which continues the cycle. Also, less police officers will make the crime rate sore. students cheating also effects the U.S. greatly. the more cheating there is, the less students graduate as smart as they could be. so in the end, we could suffer the fate as Rome if we don't change our ways.
I don’t think that the United States will suffer the same fate as Rome. Although I think there are people in both Rome and America who don’t live by ethical standards. The majorities of people understand ethics and try to live their lives with examples of good values. We can not believe that everything we see in the media represents all of us.
This is my parents blog:
Both Ammianus and Callahan are calling for their societies to adapt a more virtuous stand to combat cultural ills. Ammianus calls attention to faults of the “conduct of a few” while Callahans points to a more widespread surge of the behavior of a “culture”. Ammianus laments Rome’s addictions to luxuries such as gambling and drinking, as well as their over emphasis on stature and hierarchy during a time when its society displays such a wide gap between the rich and the poor. His embarrassment that Rome can flaunt such indulgences in the face of such disparities is evident.
Callahan bemoans America’s “cheating culture”. Having read some of his book, the birth of his “cheating culture” is a product of the increasing pressure to achieve in the midst of unfair circumstances and economic inequality. He insinuates this need for cheating, or “unethical behavior” has been created by America’s own systems. Interestingly, Callahan freely cites that America’s “personal behavior” has improved over the years with downward trends in crime, teenage pregnancy, drunk driving, abortion, and the use of drugs.
Callahans portrayal of the gaps in American society can correlate with Ammianus’ view of the gaps in Roman society. Even so, I don’t believe that America has any cause to fear the consequences of Rome. In spite of America’s problems, the foundations will endure.
Most Americans can easily make a list of issues in professional sports, politics, business, education, and other categories where cheating has been rampant. Steroids, pirated movies, earmarks, income tax evasion, ACORN, welfare corruption, and insurance fraud, are among the items. Americans pay heavily to reimburse lapses in ethical behavior.
However, corruption, cheating, unethical business practices and academic dishonesty have existed throughout time. Is it increasing slightly, or exponentially? Is it a “crisis”? Callahan’s data may not even be completely sound, by his own description. “There is little to no good data that compares most types of cheating today with past points in time, and, in any case, cheaters usually won’t talk openly about their actions and motives. What I’ve done is test my hunch of what is going on by using the information that is available.” (Callahan, p.24)
As with many issues today, the data available in this age of information allows the public to discover and decipher details that were never available in earlier times, under earlier circumstances. Assuming that all problems highlighted in the media are explosive new issues is not always prudent.
Callahan’s “crisis” in my opinion, is more a criticism of what he believes is the root of the cheating rather than the cheating itself. Callahan’s book places the blame for his “cheating culture” on the backs of corporate America, starting with his criticism of the ideology brought to America through the presidency of Ronald Reagan. “Ronald Reagan’s election stands as a historic turning point that helped crystallize and accelerate emerging trends in American society. Government activism was out. Making money was in…Over the next twenty years, the ideas and values associated with the free market would reign in U.S. society with more influence than at any time since the Gilded Age…….The dramatic upward movement of wealth to top earners has resulted in less wealth for everyone else……. income gaps among Americans have soared over the past quarter century…….When profits and performance are the only measure of success, old-fashioned ideas about fairness go out the window.” (Callahan, p. 18)
For solutions, Callahan suggests, “creating more broadly shared economic opportunity in U.S. society so that everyone has a chance to get ahead.” I don’t like that one.
I take issue with more than a few of Callahan’s postures. I would not designate our society as the “cheating culture”. I don’t believe that the majority of Americans share an attitude and belief system that supports or condones cheating, nor do I believe that the majority Americans think cheating is necessary in order to compete or succeed in today’s society. Ethics education and reform is an important piece of American culture. Business leaders seek employees with good moral character, and large companies take care to have their employees complete ethics training. The first course in many MBA programs is Business Ethics. Schools have students and parents agree to abide by a code of ethics. Whistleblowers are heroes in many circles – the tobacco industry is an example as well as employees of Enron and Worldcom. Our culture promotes business ethics through reform like The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 which regulates financial reporting for public firms. These kinds of actions denote a society which prides itself on ethics reform. In fact, corporate social responsibility and philanthropy have really become part of the fabric in American business communities. Beginning in the 1990’s and 2000’s, “giving back” to the community is as important as bottom line earnings as corporations look to establish reputations of good citizenship, caring and corporate responsibility.
If some statistics show both an increase in cheating among today’s students and data suggesting students believe they consider themselves ethical in nature, maybe schools should re-introduce moral based education into the school curriculum. In the 1950’s moral education was taught in schools, but by the 1960’s was replaced by the “values clarification” movement where students were encouraged to discover and take on their own moral values instead of those of society or their parents. Does this movement of the 1960’s suggest there was a change in the way this generation developed their ethical value system?
What is driving the numbers up? Is it education, values or politics? Callahan thinks it has to do with the American system. In the Document 3 excerpt, the increase in cheating is linked to the generalized time frame of the 1980’s and 1990’s, but Callahan gets more specific about culpability in his 2006 book ,The Moral Center: How We Can Reclaim Our Country from Die-Hard Extremists, Rogue Corporations, Hollywood Hacks, and Pretend Patriots. He connects the “cheating culture” to the “pursuit of self-interest”, describing Americans as “pushing aside other values in every aspect of life” .The reason? “our free-market economy” which he describes as “the force that increasingly fans an extreme ethos of self-interest”. This seems political.
I could argue that America is a culture of caring, overshadowing any culture of cheating as hospitals open their doors to treat all patients, as we welcome foreigners to our doors under “political asylum” as we open our school room doors to educate all children, as we provide aid to many foreign countries for food and medical supplies, as we provide safety and military protection for others. Just examine the myriad of social programs we provide our citizens as evidence.
The following quote from Callahan’s book offers hope that the notion of a “cheating culture” is more steam than substance. “While cheating in the United States appears to be associated with the rising influence of free-market forces, cheating is also pervasive in many countries that extensively regulate the market and where individualism and materialism are less pervasive. In the end, this book is more a work of social criticism than social science.” (Callahan, p. 24) Since the cheating occurs in countries other than America without the influence of a free-market economy, and since his data on cheating is suspect, the information he gives forth is more political commentary than true research. Thus, America may not be in as much of an ethical crisis as Callahan thinks, and the odds of America ending up like Rome are nil.
Sarah Kelley
I believe our society today has become accustomed to cheating our way through life...and many think nothing of it. We all will most likely be guilty of cheating on something minor in our lives. But it is the major ways of cheating in life...such as not paying taxes, that effect our country. Although cheating is causing many problems, I do not think it will lead America to end up suffering in the same ways as Rome did.
KATELYN!!!!!! Are your parents english professors????????? anyways..
I agree with Callahan. The constant cheating that exists in our lives has become so natural to us, that we dont think its cheating. Being surrounded by cheating through the media, in our homes, at school etc. its increasingly difficult not to become part of it. Because the world is changing, it becomes easier for people to cheat. There was a big increase of cheating from the 80s to 90s and an even bigger one in the 00s. I dont believe we all cheat, but its extremely hard not to when even in our homes, some form of cheating is always encouraged. I dont believe we will suffer the same fate as Rome. Even though cheating brought us to this recession, unlike Rome, we can still pull our selves out of the national messes that cheating has created.
Though Katelyn’s parent my have written an article, that I don’t want to start and not finish, I believe katelyn hit this topics rite on the button. Though you may see in movies or news kids in trouble for copy write infringement or some fat redneck women with one tooth not paying taxes, I have to agree that that does not pertain to all of us. And with all the media on, A-I lied and used steroids, has only been connected to a few dozen players these past years. In defense of that we do not know everyone who may be using performance enhancing drugs, but we have to believe its well under 10% of players
I very much agree with what Callahan said in his document. He clearly states that we are a cheating society. This is because our society has struggled to stay as the best society on the planet that people have started to cheat to keep up with the high demands of ourselves. That is why a mojority of the students have some time in thei8r life cheated on a test or assignment. It is because they overwhelmed and can not keep up with our society and the high standards it sets. Adults in the real world are doing the same thing, they cannot afford to pay their taxes because of the rising prices of our economy. This wjhole cheating situation has to come to an end. I believe the right president to reform this whole situation is the one we have today, president Obama. However I do not think he will be able to deal with the situation because he has to fix the economic meltdown currently during his time of power
Matt hoey
Cheating is what makes many other countries look down on us. Many of the things that happen in our country are reasons other countries hate us. What people do in this country is cheating financially, academically and physically as Callahan said. Although, America is nowhere on the road that Rome took. Rome had their own citizens bring an army to Rome. Their Senate killed people when they looked like they would be King. I would say that America may have cheating people, but we are more civilized and i do not think that we will fall.
I believe that cheating is used loosely now. My definition of cheating would be if it defies the law, another person’s rules, or unwritten laws it is cheating. Things like copying homework is cheating because you are defying some else’s rules whether it is the teacher or the person you are copying it from. AS for taking steroids that is also cheating because you would be defying the rules of the league. I do not believe it will make us fall as Rome did because there has been cheating since we landed here which has been over 200 years so if it was going to destroy us i am pretty sure we all would be destroyed by now and the next big nation will step into the spotlight and inevitably collapse as all the rest.
My parents said: I agree with Mr. Callahan to a certain extent. I don't think "everyone" cheats but I believe it is certainly a problem in our modern society. We are in a nationwide financial crisis today because some leaders and heads of corporations steal and cheat and take huges bonuses while their companys routinely go bankrupt. Professional athletes break the rules and take steriods just to have an edge on other players that are playing by the rules. I believe people will cheat because they think they will not get caught and if they do caught they say "It's ok, everybody is doing it." I believe most people are good, but as a society we should look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we like wat we see. To qoute John Mellencamp "An honest man's pillow is his piece of mind."
Richard Sadowski
Katelyn please tell me your parents’ copied and pasted that blog from a rocket science website or the SSSP (Society of Stupidly Smart People). That was ridicules I thought the page would never end!!!! I also would like to Thank Zackary on his recognition of me in his blog although most of you will not catch it.
I’m sorry to contradict Bryan but what I consider cheating is either making-out with your girlfriend’s sister or copying someone’s work on a test. Breaking the law, I would use the word felony or crime. I think it is possible that the United States can fall like Rome because History has a tendency to repeat itself and right now we look like Rome did when it fell: the most powerful nation going slightly downhill.
America has become the cheating capital of the world. Most of my friends dont pay for music, they get it off limewire. As minimal as it masy seem to pirate a few songs, when EVERYONE does it, the numbers add up. America's values have been put on the back burner of her people, bieng replaced with new concepts like lying, cheating, and general misconduct. The scary part is, Americans dont even see it as cheating anymore. at this points its just a way to get by.
I believe that cheating does weaken our country. I believe everyone in their life will/has cheated. Whether it be copying homework, copying an answer, used online sites to do things for you, whatever it may be I think one day we will all be guilty of it. However, I do not believe we are on the same path as Rome. America still has values, and hasn't weakened them as much as Rome has lie Alex said. I'm not denying the fact that, our country is a cheating country I'm just saying that I believe we have more values then Rome did, making us more likely to not end up on the same path Rome did.
As most of the earlier bloggers stated, cheating does weaken our country. Yes, all of the said things, steriod use, homework copying, etc. is all cheating because alot of it is either not your own work, or your doing it in a sly sneaky way that is agaisnt the laws of our societies. This will probably end up destroying us, just as these two authors said destroyed Rome. Perhaps, if we as Americans, can somehow prevent all of this cheating from going on, we might be able to have our reign in this world last longer. Especcially today during our tough economy, many people are faced with tough decisions, most of them with the bottom line being, should I cheat.
i agree with callahan, he is correct in saying that we are a cheating culture. and this cheating makes our country weaker. when athletes use steroids, they are setting an example for people to think its ok to use such drugs. by avoiding their taxes, the government goes into debt and that starts a period of economic problems. and by copying homework, students lose credibility and have that held above their heads. through school. so, i believe that these traits and habits greatly weaken our country.
I think that everybody at some point cheats in their lives. America is a cheating society, and not many people have realized it. I think that steroids are disgusting; no one in their right mind should consider it ever! Athletic ability should be gained over years of practice, not injected or swallowed. You can get unwanted facial hair too…gross. Copying homework already happens in schools, since I'm a student and occasionally copy homework, it would be nice if they allowed it every so often, but I’m one of the students who does my homework almost every day, the only time I would copy is if I forgot the work at home and didn't have time to do it in school. On the other hand if they consider it, the grades of the people who cheat wouldn’t reflect their continuous wrong doings. I don't think is right when there are many other students out there who work hard for their grades. It's nice if a teacher allows it once in a while, but other than that It would be quite unfair. I don't think that the United States will suffer the exact same fate as Rome, but we haven’t learned anything from history, and I don’t have high hopes that we will survive, I think we will eventually fall.
Callahan makes a point. Many things can be considered cheating such as looking at someone else's paper during an exam, injecting lethal subtances to enhance your performance during a sport, as well as lying about your income in order to reduce taxes, get welfare, etc. It would be hard, as some are accustom to this, to get away from the bad habit and rather be a truthful person facing the consequences. However, as much as they think it's benefiting to them it also corrupts the nation. Bills go unpaid, money becomes a problem, athletes are banned from professional sports, students are expelled, and so on. I think video games can even be relevant. There are many sites in which embedded html code show us cheats for a video game. Wether to help us be immune to things, or glitch our way through an area. It takes away, some say, the pleasure of manually earning the achievement than utilized cheat codes to get it. But, cheating has been common, even in the Roman era.
Kaitlyn's parents blog XD. Anyways, I do believe that we all do cheat in different ways and on different levels but it is still considered cheating. Cheating can be related to anything besides students copying homework, and athletes taking steroids to improve their performance which i still think is cheating but everyone does them. Cheating can also happen in board games, relationships, people and even life. Cheating can be one of the reasons of United States downfall just like Rome but i think other factors still need to happen for that to happen like values and stuff.
The way I would define cheatting is doing anything unfair or more importantly, against the rules. However, I think that some forms of cheating are more sevre than others and is shown by amounts of punishment. For example, cheating in a firendly game of caards is much less sevre than cheating in a professenial game (such as baseball) by using steroids or paying the referee.
Christine Brown (Dylan's mom)
I do agree with Callahan , that there are many instances in which we as Americans demonstrate "cheating" behavior. The specific examples given with regards to steroid use etc. ,are good examples of such .The question posed as to whether the United States will suffer the same fate as Rome seems a bit drastic to me. While I do believe that such amoral behavior contributes to a compromise in the integrity of our country and it's appearance to the world, I am hopeful that there will be a rebalancing of the "cheating" behavior that can only lead to negative outcomes.
An example of this "rebalancing "would be the commitees that have been formed to punish those who have taken part in steroid use in sports and the conntiuation of our government to punish those who commit tax fraud.
Cheating is a big issue in our country. But its part of life. Theres going to be good people and theres going to be bad people. For Callahan to say that we are going to suffer the same fate as Rome, is i think a little over the top. Im not saying its not possible but we have technology and knowledge they didn't at their time. But "cheating" is kind of broad. Theres copying somebody's homework and then theres tax fraud that affect the entire country. I don't think he's giving enough credit to the honest people. Theres plenty of people that don't cheat as there is people who do. But I can belive what Callahan said that the number of people cheating grows all the time. That is a problem that we should solve before America becomes in a worst state than it is now.
Parent for John C.
The articles showcase startling yet undeniable similarities between ancient Roman culture and current American culture. Im my opinion, human nature dictates this is inevitable in any civilization. Humanity as a whole will always take the path of least resistance. This is why all cultures are doomed to fall just as surely as they rose.
Sarah’s A’s parents blog:
There are times that I feel that we will suffer a similar fate to what Rome did. We have declined as a society over time since the 1950’s. The values that were held as honorable are suggestive good deeds now. The things thought of as wrong then, are seen as acceptable now. The majority of people do not care what goes on in their government and they expect others to represent their interests. Yet our political system needs an overhaul from the representation of our interests by out of touch prize collectors, rather than the humble public servants. The setting of term limits for senators and congress can begin the process of repairing the legislative branch of government. Judicial representatives need to stop legislating from the bench and do their job of “upholding the constitution” rather than imposing the rest of the country and states with their version of society, rather than doing their job.
With the ideal of doing what is right, all would work out well. Politicians would vote in term limits, judges would do their jobs, people would care about what their senators and congressman are voting on, and the country could turn back the tide.
However, the reality is that the overwhelming desire to succeed without concern of the consequences, the desire to please oneself over the concern of others and the common good, if allowed to grow unchecked, will corrupt this country from its foundational roots and corrupt itself to the point of internal decay and ruin
Paula Voyer-Regine (Zack’s mom)
After reading the suggested documents, I identify most with Callahan. I do believe that our cheating culture can be directly attributed to “the pursuit of self-interest”. Sad to say, but cheating, greed and corruption always boils down to “Quid Pro Quo”. I have been a Paralegal for 24 years practicing law in the private sector as well as for the government and the State of Rhode Island. I have also worked in politics campaigning and working for our U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse; and, in my opinion, as much as I love my occupation and the opportunities I have had, America as a whole and even locally in our own state, cheating and corruption have become almost expected. Every day in our nation and even our state there is “breaking news” and even the need for a “You Paid for It” series on our local news. Is it that we have always had these problems or that there is less and less culpability? We are in the middle of an economic disaster after bailing out huge companies with the promise of help to “main street”; yet, has there been any culpability and/or punishment to the companies and CEOs that keep taking from the bottomless well? While Rome may have had the same problems we do today which eventually led to their downfall, they dealt with their infidelities swiftly and with little sympathy. When you sit in a courtroom listening to someone complain about how they need state assistance and support as a result of not receiving child support for any of their six children, all with different fathers, you must ponder who is really at fault.
With regard to cheating athletes, it’s awfully hard to sympathize with an athlete, and I won’t name any names - (Manny Ramirez) – who can complain about being offered and receiving $42 million dollars for two years of playing baseball. Sorry, Zack. The desire to be better and achieve more accolades has romanticized the use of steroids by trainers and athletes who, even in the face of proof, continue to deny their use.
Yet, we who live in this Country are so privileged to have been born here, as we live better than most of the entire world. Our Country shows great empathy in times of crisis and tragedy. We, as a Country, as well as individual citizens, open our homes to anyone less fortunate; our schools to anyone needing any education and our hospitals to anyone needing care.
justin's mom
It has been very interesting reading and thinking about cheating and it's effects. Of course cheating has been going on for as long as man has been around. I believe it is part of human nature as long as we live in a competitive society. Failing is not an option and if success in whatever field, business, sports, etc. means that if some people will need to cheat, then they will.
Is cheating more prevalent today than ever? Maybe. Will cheating be our undoing? Not while there are still many who feel that cheating is wrong(even if they themselves cheat sometimes). As long as we still believe that it is wrong and continue to guide our children, as in this discussion, I have faith that cheating will not overwhelm us and become one of the vices of our downfall.
Cheating is what cripples society. At the very beginning we americans are bred to cheat. At a young age we go to a store and put a stuffed animal in our strollers without paying for it, We then get to school and steel crayons from the crayon box. Eventually cheating sets forth in relationships and most of all finances. The combined cheating of all of the people living in our country is growing larger and larger as our nation crumbles in terms of our financial staus. Taking advantage of the breaks that our government cuts those in need once in a while also contributes to a cheating nation.
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