Term Paper on "Cultural Values and Personal Ethics"

Term Paper 4 pages (1475 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Cultural Values, Personal Ethics

Preppy, Wasp, Conservative -- Republican. These are the adjectives frequently given to the upstate New York State culture from which I hail, so memorably depicted in the fiction of Joyce Carol Oates, herself a proud product of this 'stock' and geographical region, as depicted in short stories such as "Where are you going, where do you come from?" Or the culture, one could add, so memorably satirized in Lisa Birnbach's the Official Preppy Handbook, although I like to think that the New York working class WASP culture has a slightly less noxious sense of entitlement than the New England WASPs the handbook chronicles. My own upbringing placed a strong stress upon hard work and core, American values, contrary to some of the attitudes expressed in the Guide as well.

Of course, the author Lisa Birnbach, of the Official Preppy Handbook might say I am in self-denial -- yes, I did wear a nice, conservative set of blue and gray tailored suits to work, during my first days laboring at IBM and I did live in a pair of loafers as I grew up. I drew the line, however, at the plaid madras monogrammed Bermuda shorts during the summer, that are supposed to be the mark of a true, rather than a faux preppie.

There are some other chinks in my preppie armor, chinks I am proud of rather than ones I wish to conceal. I am the child of a businessperson, not of old money. Rather unusual for the period and in the community I found myself located in, I was raised the product of a single mother. My mother, no 'Muffy' of golf courses and social clubs, ran her own successful silk screening business, and instilled in me the values of dedication to a business organization, of a compassionate yet committed capitalistic ethic and ethos, and told me that in general, one always had to try hard, expect the best, and weather the worst in the business world and in life.

Her own mother was a teacher -- one of the few professions open to women of her intellect, during the day and age when my grandmother grew up. In retrospect, I am in awe of the courage and dedication with which my grandmother pursued her career -- and I must confess, even I, with all of my experience in management, and in facilitating business meetings, would be daunted at the prospect of having to control a room full of unruly children. My grandmother was a great influence upon me when I was growing up, and helped raise me as well when my mother was busy with her business.

Thus, I grew up in the shadow of education, of educators -- not only through the stories and the importance placed upon learning and giving back to the world from my grandmother, but also because I am the child of two Syracuse University alumni. Syracuse is a huge, sprawling campus, located in snowy upstate New York, and the entire town of Syracuse revolves around campus and student life. It is a community as well as a university. My father as well as my mother is a graduate of that institution. It is a very spirited place, full of pride for its athletic teams. It was wonderful to be exposed to such an environment through my parents. I wished to be part of an organization throughout my life, not just in college, with a commitment to learning and education, of improving the world through knowledge as well as simply making money.

IBM improved the world through technology, I believe, and thus I am proud to have worked for that organization for twenty years, and its spin-off company of Intel for seven years.

My mother's success in her own silk screening business was what inspired me to enter the business world. But I wasn't sure, after living vicariously through her business and seeing the hardship she had to go through, just to make it on her own, that I wanted such an insecure business life of an independent entrepreneur, always at the mercy of the capricious whims of the marketplace and government red tape.

IBM's sound structure of benefits and close corporate culture attracted me. I wanted to be a part of a place that both offered me a family-like corporate atmosphere, that was stable and promised its employees great security, yet still had a… READ MORE

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