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That's spot on and incredibly unsettling. I come from a conservative religious background and I'm genuinely creeped out by the mythologies that surround compan
by aaron-lebo 10y ago
That's spot on and incredibly unsettling.
I come from a conservative religious background and I'm genuinely creeped out by the mythologies that surround companies. I think there are a ton of parallels between today's business leaders and megachurch pastors. There's similarities in the way they build brands, the way followers reverently speak of them, assume they do no wrong, are willing to defend them, and the cognitive dissonance used to justify what they are doing.
I assume they must be following a shared playbook, but I don't know who borrowed from what.
- levelist_com 10y agoThis probably isn't the best link but what you said reminded me of an article I read a number of years back. http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/05/19/apple.religion/ http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/05/19/apple.reli...
- alphonsegaston 10y agoLook into Amway - that's where a lot of this ideology was first cultivated. They literally took American Christianity, substituted an ambiguous notion of "business" with God, and pyramid schemed their way to immense wealth and political power. They also pioneered selling business sermons (in the form of cassette tape sets) long before this whole social media deluge of similar nonsense.
- cholantesh 10y agoI was nearly bamboozled by their successor Quixtar while in university. Luckily I was able to smell the scam when I went to one of their sessions. Very vague and very pushy about us buying into a scheme before we could learn how it worked.
- alphonsegaston 10y agoGlad you were able to dodge that one. They've ruined a lot of lives and families in the Midwest, where, incredibly, they still are treated as a legitimate business.
- cholantesh 10y agoMy understanding is that, as a multi-level marketing scheme, they are doing enough to be considered a legal entity as opposed to a pyramid scheme (which is what they are).
- sjg007 10y agoI was always told that the MBA is about the network. Someone in your cohort has a friend who gets you your next job. And there is also some diversity in the class since everyone worked for a few years prior to taking an MBA. The network effect is very important. It allows you to grow and to attract smart ambitious people to your own adventure.
- treebeard901 10y agoOddly enough, I know many people who privately admit this is the main reason they go to church: networking.
- cholantesh 10y agoReminds me of Ted Wassanasong from King of the Hill. There's an episode when Khan asks him why he doesn't see him at the Buddhist temple any more and he replies, "We're Episcopalian now. It's just good business."
- tabeth 10y agoI completely agree. The amount of megacorp apologists on here is deeply disturbing to me. No matter what happens, there's always someone willing to apologize for them. Business seems to be the new religion.
- fosco 10y agoI do not think its new, and this scene[0] captures it really [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zK-b0INu1k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zK-b0INu1k I did not see the movie but this scene was shared with me while discussing the business religion.
- dilemma 10y agoIt also captures politics as religion very well.