Firing people from their jobs has become entertainment for the masses to enjoy. The new reality show being produced by Fox, Someone’s Gotta Go, is a reflection of the power of the ubiquitous multi-media in the hands of the masses. It will premiere this summer. This new Fox reality television show sets the stage for employees of small companies to determine who is fired from employment in the current economic climate. According to news accounts employees will make the termination decision based on several factors including examining performance evaluations and salary history of the individual. Unlike Donald Trump’s The Apprentice, with his famous words "You're Fired!", Fox puts someone’s wife, partner, children, home, and general well-being at risk.
The current national unemployment rate is at 8.5% and is expected to rise to more than 10% in the summer. Losing a job is not a joyous or comical occasion. Whether you must deliver or should you receive an employment termination notice, it is not a pleasant experience. People with a moral conscience should not find it entertaining to gloat in another’s demise. Someone’s Gotta Go appears to be the new “blood sport” attacking human emotions and the essence of being.
This new show reminds me of the human spectacles played out at the Roman Colosseum where the masses cheered the lions to eat the Christians or gladiators brutally kill one another. Are we fast becoming like the mobs of Rome? Feasting on the personal demise at the hands of co-workers and friends. A television drama highlighting an employment dismissal leaves a person with a sense of self-worthlessness and humiliation in their few minutes of fame before the world. Egging on by program producers and co-workers exposes the evil nature of people as is reflected in audience response and participant interaction in the barrage of past and current reality television shows. Profiting from another’s personal pain, emotional agony, and spiritual weariness through global media outlets reflects a culture that has the moral fabric of a fishnet. It doesn’t hold the dignity of humanity.
Caveat emptor for those who jump on the bandwagon of emotional and psychological persecution of terminated persons. Such a venture could easily hinder the future of the fired, the co-workers, and the business owner. Their self-exposure risks their own reputation in the media and Internet. Professor Daniel Solove, in The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor and Privacy on the Internet, says “Our reputation is an essential component to our freedom, for without the good opinion of our community, our freedom can become empty.” Would you want to do business with a small business owner who participated in such a “blood sport” by abdicating their decision making to “blood thirsty” employees? If he or she would lead their own employees into this kind of abuse of power, what might their values hold in store for you as a customer or client or vendor? What are some other ethical leadership implications of this new reality show?
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The fact of life seems to be that in this day and age, the lowest common denominator of societal garbage sells. Look at any of these reality shows, " Jon & Kate Plus 8," "Big Brother" even "Survivor", all of these shows display humans at their weakest or most unflattering moments, which seem to drive up ratings.
ReplyDeleteYour comparison to the Roman Colosseum seems to be quite accurate. What implications does this show create? The incentive that a group of employees now make the decision based on someone salary history allows for jealousy and ager to play a part in the decision, both traits of dissonance and ones that should never be used when making a crucial company decision. It is the mass chaos theory, the "riot" mentality, which discourages those members of the group who may disagree with firing an employee from speaking up for fear of retribution.
It is scary to think, that our job performance is no longer the main quality that decides our fate, but now could be the jealousy or personal dislike one or others may to determine and celebrate a decision that will affect the course of your life.
When I read the first paragraph, the first thing I thought of was the 'Bread and Circuses' of Roman times. Well....you beat me to it. One cannot help but see the similarities between the two scenarios. Although our particular brand of B&C in the USA is less barbaric, in the sense of not having severed limbs, there still is no denying that this kind of base entertainment perpetuates the same corrosive effect on society and public morality.
ReplyDeleteThe United States has, in my lifetime, gone from being the reigning No. 1 superpower, to a nation in decline. The New Rome.
It says something about the kind of people we are that this kind of garbage has gotten the green light from a television studio.
I really hope that TV show does not get picked up. Once again, we are embarassing ourselves! How horrible to show someone's demise on national television. How hurtful! It's sick that someone would even entertain this idea.
ReplyDeleteMy husband was laid off last September and let me tell you, it was not funny and it was not for anyone else to see. It was hurtful and painful and something that I wish for nobody. He wasn't fired - he didn't do anything wrong. It was a simple "last one in, first one out" situation. I cannot imagine being fired or having to fire someone. In my office, I often worry about people getting fired for not doing their jobs correctly, and I try to help them before this happens.
And based our the television that plays these days, we are the new Rome. We enjoy watching our fellow man suffer. Tiger Woods. How much do people love running him through the gauntlet. Yes, he cheated on his wife and that is terrible. But so do our friends and coworkers. The difference is that people are jealous of Tiger Woods and want to see him fall. Why can't we take him for what he is? A golfer. He didn't promise us he would be faithful? He did promise God and God will take care of that - most likely by forgiving him when he asks. So why can't we do the same? I think it is people we love to take our fellow man down. How disheartening.
-Sarah C.