Mr Santamonious Worked For The Man

I find it interesting that this young man decided to create a video critical of Big Business and yet he worked for “The Man” for two days giving out the samples he decried. Usually people who do this proclaim themselves to have actually been in the position of power. They say “I used the man to manipulate his message.” Here’s the questions I would ask:

“If corporations like Pepsi go against your beliefs why would you accept a paycheck from them? Does that mean when you are older you will accept a paycheck from a different corporate master while decrying him?”

“If you are against corporate America why do you buy into and feed their EVIL empires?" For example, did you make that shirt yourself or did you buy it from one of those evil corporate clothing stores? "Did you raise the food you eat or did you buy it from one of those evil corporate grocery stores?”

"Did you throw yourself in front of the people from the Chicago Food Depository who came with huge, empty containers to fill with all the products warning that the hungry shouldn’t eat food provided by evil corporations? After all you claimed that the food was nothing but crap." Did you investigate the work with such organizations that the people at Quaker do?

You see I do have personal convictions. There are groups and companies that do things I do not and could not with a clean conscience support. I vote with my wallet by avoiding sending money their way and I certainly wouldn’t work for them EVER.

For example, when I first began teaching some of my student’s parents worked for RJ Reynolds Tobacco. I do not smoke and I do my best to steer teens away from smoking. As a young kid I know I pressured my Dad to stop smoking because I’d beg him “Daddy, I don’t want you to die. Please don’t smoke.” He finally quit.

The student’s who had parents who worked at RJ Reynolds would talk about the great money they made there and that’s where they wanted to work. This was back in the early 90’s and I want to say that they made something like $14 an hour. Heck I was making $10,500 and I was a divorced Mom. I certainly would have loved to almost triple my income. These people had less education and they were making much more than I was. I asked myself why wouldn’t a kid want to work there? The money was good and so were the benefits.

Herein lies the lesson that we discuss in every business ethics class I ever teach. Would you put aside your values and beliefs and take a position with a company that you were morally opposed to? I remember saying to myself, if you quit teaching and worked there you could buy the boys each a bike and you could have a new car instead of the death trap you drive now. The answer came to me quite quickly. No thanks. Not for one day, not for one week, not for all the money in the world. Perhaps I could say that because I was working in a job I always thought I would hold. Perhaps it was because my kids had a roof over their head and food in their bellies. Maybe then my answer would have been different.

So I would like to know just how Mr. Sanctamonious spent his blood money. Did he give it to some evil corporation, did he buy food and donate it to a food bank, or did he take in a movie or buy a drink and pat himself on the back applauding himself for being a true American Hero?

Actually he says he feels misunderstood according to one blogger. He had no clue what BlogHer was and he said “He hoped that it would be more a community of women devoted to social causes, artistic pursuits and environmental responsibility than a court of pure consumerism and self-gratification from corporations acting like jesters, vying for the favor of upper class American females.”

Wow. Hear that? I’m an upper class female. Yipppeeee!!! Should I alert my unemployed husband to the good news? Oh wait, don’t tell anyone about that government cheese and those food stamps I used to get. I certainly don’t want to confuse anyone.