American Buffalo and the American Business EthicEssay Preview: American Buffalo and the American Business EthicReport this essayAmerican Buffalo and the American Business EthicBecause the American business ethic condones betrayal and disloyalty in the name of capitalism, the characters of American Buffalo act only according to the nature of their given circumstances and societal pressures.
Initially one might think American Buffalo is a straightforward story of three, small-time crooks bungling an easy graft. Don, a junk shop owner, has sold a buffalo-head nickel to a coin collector. Don comes to believe that he was taken advantage of, an act that he insists not only lost him money but insulted his intelligence and capabilities as a business man. Don decides not only to steal back the coin but the gentlemans whole collection, which Don envisions as being quite substantial.
Don enlists the help of a young man, Bob, to whom he acts as a kind of mentor to. However, his other accomplice, Teach, argues against Bobs inclusion in the deal; Don agrees and cuts him out, going back on his word that he had given to his friend. They wait at the store until after nightfall but the robbery never takes place. Bob returns to the store with a buffalo-head nickel to which he admits not having stolen but purchased. Realizing that Bob had also lied about seeing the coin collector returning to his home, Don becomes angry and ashamed at having put his faith in the kid, even though Bob wanted nothing more than to impress his friend. Teach becomes enraged, assaulting the hapless young man and destroying the shop. The societal pressure to acquire material gain and profit in combination with circumstances of limited means, caused them to destroy the one thing they had of any real value–their friendship.
After this play opened, Mamet admitted being angry about business in America. American Buffalo, he argued, “is all about the American ethic of businessAbout how we excuse all sorts of great and small betrayals and ethical compromises called business.” I felt angry about business when I wrote the play.”[6] The rabid pursuit of wealth and Americas ostentatious display of it is not a new phenomenon. In 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville writes in his critical essay on the American Republic:
“I know of no other country than America where love of money has such a grip on mens hearts or where stronger scorn is expressed for the theory of the permanent quality of property.” [7]
In American Buffalo, the concept of business is more than just the buying and selling of goods and services as a means for ones livelihood, but the fundamental aspect of the characters whole existence. The audience never sees the characters outside the setting of the shop. Teach and Bob come from the outside world into the plays world of Dons store. Don never leaves his business. Something that is evident to the audience is that for the characters, the outside world is governed by the same moral and ethical rules as the characters private lives. For Teach, Don and Bobby, life and the American Dream is about constantly jockeying for advantage in the cutthroat world of business, for an edge in pocketing the almighty dollar. This is illustrated when Don reveals that he chose Bob to assist him in robbing the collector and Teach tries to dissuade him so he can take his place:
Don: Hes doing good.Teach: I can see that. Pause But I gotta say something here.Don: What?Teach: Only this-and dont think Im getting at anything-Don: What?Teach: Pause Dont send the kid in.Don: I shouldnt send Bobby in?Teach: No. (Now, just wait a second.) Lets siddown on this.What are we saying here? Loyalty. (pg. 33)Teach automatically attacks Bobs character in a bid to take his place on the job and make a profit. At the end of the play, the subterfuge becomes physical when Teach viciously attacks him then trashes the store. Reminiscent of an episode from Mutual of Omahas Wild Kingdom, Teachs assault has similar practical applications–to narrow the playing field in a dog-eat-dog environment. Without competition, Teach has more room and opportunities to succeed and just like animals in the wild, he asserts his dominance over the weaker creatures in the jungle. Tactics like this are common place in a country where society tells its constituents to succeed at all costs.
Part of the characters penchant for betrayal lies in their envy of what they do not have. In A Theory of the Leisure Class (1899), Thornstein Velban explains the concept of “pecuniary emulation.” In Betrayal and Friendship, Matthew Roudane interprets this concept:
“Velban believed that the individual dwelt in a social world, and that his outward behavior to an extent was defined and accorded value when compared to that of his neighbors. These neighbors, Velban argued, emulated each other, and when-in trying to keep up with the Joneses-they participated in “pecuniary emulation,” they accumulated more wealth in order to be financially like(or even better off than) their neighbors.” [6]
In this context it is easy to see how Don, Bob, and Teach, three men at the bottom of the economic ladder, can become demoralized enough to double-cross their friends.
In 1990, the richest one percent of American households controlled about forty percent of all wealth. During the Reagan era, shifts in wealth distribution went directly to the top one percent as well. In contrast, the lower and middle class experienced flat or falling growth during the same period of time. [3] This era saw the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, often at the expense of small business owners like Don.
As America entered the 1980s, the country saw an initial drop followed by a steady rise in crime rates until the mid 1990s.[8] This is due in part to the hardships of the economic recession created by the “trickle-down” economics of the Reagan administration and peoples willingness to first modify their principles to fit the greater personal need, then rationalize those modifications if they prove contrary to their original moral or ethical codes. Human beings have a natural adaptability to adverse conditions that facilitates their ability to resolve particular moral and ethical dilemmas that would otherwise hinder progress when action must be taken to protect their interests. In combat, most soldiers will not hesitate to provide
when the law enforcement needs the resources, and a civilian or group of civilians may be selected to accompany it as needed. In an emergency, the local police force may also provide additional support as needed.
The War on Drugs
A brief outline of the policy is available here.
As a result of the drug war in the late 1970s, nearly 75% of America’s people were drug dependent. That rate fell to 12.7 million. Drug dependency was responsible for 8.4 million deaths. However, because of drug-dependent people in many urban areas, the number of drug users decreased dramatically in the 1980s. During this period, the American Civil Liberties Union and millions of Americans were in the hospital, nursing home, and jail, all of which was used to administer the deadly dose of heroin. The “war on drugs,” as the Department of Justice term was written, is a program that has led to widespread, persistent, and substantial use of illicit drugs, including prescription and abuse medications, alcohol, and illegal drug paraphernalia. A series of policies were issued to reduce abuse and use among individuals and families, and, together with the military, the Department of Justice developed policies to reduce the use of harmful opioids such as heroin and morphine. These included reducing the number of drug abusers and increasing the use of treatment for addictive addictions. However, the war on drugs has significantly increased the number of drug overdose deaths since 1973.
Legalization or “Punishment for War”
Following the withdrawal of the U.S. and Mexican War of 1898, all American cities, including New York, Washington, Baltimore, Boston and Baltimore–New York, began to legalize and punish marijuana use. The national trend in marijuana use continues to this day. In 2010, more than 9.5 million adults used marijuana each day; they accounted for 60% of the nation’s marijuana use.
Legalization of marijuana has created a boom in drug arrests, with a nearly 20% spike in marijuana arrests to July 2012. Many drug crimes remain on state or local felony counts while marijuana businesses remain unregulated. This has led to increased criminalization of those who use marijuana in the first place (as well as individuals who are unable to pay for the growing legal pot).
The Justice Department is currently reviewing all federal laws on marijuana cultivation, purchase and possession to assess the potential adverse effects of law enforcement actions.
Drug Laws
In a brief overview of the criminalization of marijuana, see: Justice Programs for Drug Law Enforcement
Drug War Abuse
Drugs and Alcohol
Dealing with the Problem of Addiction
In their final report titled “This Is Our Place: The Drugs, Drugs that Get You Off Drugs, and the Costs of Illegal Drug Prohibition,” the Johns Hopkins Law School Department and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) outlined how the Drug War has driven the opioid epidemic and other drug abuse. In 2012