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News

Author says playing by rules is worth it

Callahan blames unrealistic standards for 'bipolar morality'

by bridget brown

The watchdogs are weak. Some are purposely put to sleep. A plague of poor integrity is infecting everyone from corporate moguls to Little League sports teams, and author David Callahan is the moral police.

"The values are different. America is different," Callahan said in a talk at UH on Monday. "People tolerate contradictions between who they want to be and what they would like to do, and it's hard not to compromise."

Callahan discussed the moral degradation of society with faculty and students at The Honors College in M.D. Anderson Memorial Library to promote his new book, The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead.

He said doctors overbill, half of résumés contain lies, baseball is overrun by steriods and student cheating is up 74 percent. The rich are getting richer and the middle class are getting frustrated, Callahan said.

"People are scared of being a loser and falling behind. If you fall in America, there is often no one there to catch you," he said.

He said the best way to stop corruption is to instate a new social contract.

"Anyone who plays by the rules should have a chance to get ahead. Anyone who breaks the rules, whether they are rich or poor, should be held to the same standards. And everyone must have a say in the way the rules are made," he said.

America's idolization of superstars causes unreachable success anxiety in the middle class, he said.

"People will do whatever it takes to be a winner. We've taken this obsession with winning way too far," Callahan said. "I think envy is the single most important current problem in America today."

The solution is to promote moral courage, he said -- to choose integrity over money and spread the message through families.

"Cheating in schools reflects the huge financial stresses that families are under. People must live by their values," Callahan said. "Taking hits along the way is always worth it."

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