Running head: CONFESSIONS 1

Confessions

Callie Van Neste

Siena Heights University

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Confessions

Everyone is raised differently, whether it be in a different culture, nation, or even within

the same city. People experience different lessons throughout their life that help mold them into

who they are and what they believe in. These ethical experiences reveal our ability to determine

“right” from “wrong”. As we all face our own trials and tribulations, societies operate under a set

of ethical standards to which we try best to follow. However, when it comes to business, being

ethical is not always the greatest way to build revenue.

My Ethical Standards

When I was young, I experienced many things to test my ethical standards. I once broke a

lamp and blamed it on my sister, when I watched her get scolded and punished, I felt so bad that

I told my parents the truth. This taught me the value of honesty. As a senior in high school I was

voted the captain of the softball team. I had a lot of younger players looking up to me and I did

my best to set a good example on and off the field. This taught me the value of leadership.

Growing up with four sisters, my mother made us share rooms, toys, clothes and much more.

Though it was difficult at times, sharing taught me the value of fairness and equality. Another

life lesson I learned young was finding out my sister was pregnant when she was just 17 years

old. At a young age I was able to witness her many struggles of being a young, single parent.

This opened my eyes to the significance of freedom and independence. Unfortunately, not

everyone goes through the same experiences, so not all values are respected equally. The many

different experiences in my life have helped me to realize what values I choose to honor. In

business, the company, as well as cultural norms within the business or society set ethical

standards. However, it is difficult to regulate ethical standards because they can still be left up to

interpretation. There can often times be outside factors that characterize individual’s ability to
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remain ethical within certain business situations. Personally, an addiction that could expose my

vulnerability would be the power of money. The idea of having money has the ability to trigger

typically “good” people do “bad” things. For example, Martha Stuart was convicted of “insider

trading” in 2001. This meant that her, or her representative, was in contact with insiders within a

company to receive information on stocks before a potential stock market crash or decline. Stuart

was driven by money and was willing to do unethical things to make more (Why Did Martha

Stuart Go To Jail?).

Measuring Success

The classic “American Dream” is known as finding a career, a spouse, buying a home,

and starting a family by a decent age. This may be a way that some measure success in life. For

me, I learned the value of independence when I was just ten years old, so my judgment for

success is different than the “American Dream”. When I think of a successful person I think of

someone who loves their job, someone who has traveled the world, or someone who is not

hesitant to embrace change. I am working toward my bachelor’s degree in order to make those

things happen for myself. Because I am only 24, I feel like I have the whole world ahead of me,

waiting to be explored. I have been building my resume since I got my first job at the age of 16.

Unfortunately, I have not worked in any industry other than the service industry, so my resume

does not reflect the type of career I am looking for after I have my degree.

John’s Ethics

At the beginning of John’s journey, he likes the idea of his job. He is able to convince

himself that he is not the bad guy for what his job entails. Later on John realizes what his job was

truly doing. On page 85, John acknowledges his awareness of what he does, “It certainly defied

all I had learned at MAIN. Surely, he knew that the foreign aid game was a sham—he had to
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know. It existed to make him rich and to shackle his country with debt. It was there so Panama

would be forever obligated to the United States and the corporatocracy” (Perkins p 85). This

quote exposes the ethics of the corporatocracy as crooked and greedy. John continued his job for

some time while understanding what he was putting others through. His ethics began to conflict

on page 256 when he says “How do you rise up against a system that appears to provide you

with your home and car, food and clothes, electricity and health care—even when you know that

the system also creates a world where twenty-four thousand people starve to death each day and

millions more hate you, or at least hate the policies made by representatives you elected?”

(Perkins p 256). John ultimately quit because of his morally prompted conflictions.

How “Confessions” Affected Me

The self-evaluating questions are offered to help find relief and peace within oneself.

John asked himself the same questions when he realized what he had done and how unhappy he

was. John asked himself questions such as “What do I need to confess?” and “How have I

deceived myself and others?” (Perkins p 264). After he worked through these questions in his

life, he was able to make the changes necessary to become a better person. I completed John’s

evaluation questions and have begun to make changes in my own behavior and daily attitudes.

This book helped to give me a clearer outlook on life and the things I can do to help make this

world a better place.

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References

Perkins, J. (2004). Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

Why Did Martha Stewart Go to Jail? (n.d.). Retrieved August 16, 2016, from

http://biography.yourdictionary.com/articles/why-did-martha-stewart-go-to-jail.html