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There's no 'I' in 'Repressed Masses'

Well, you just never know where bemusement will strike next. I just stumbled upon the Motivational Posters section of the office supply catalog here at work, and I am agog.

No, no - the poor grammar, the labored phrasing, and the ghastly stock photography are not what set me off, although I am a little alarmed by the cultish sentiment under the heading Think Win-Win: "Win-win is a belief in the Third Alternative. It's not your way or my way; it's a better way. A higher way." Now drink your Kool-Aid, kids! It's Better!

But even that is not as inadvertently telling as the "Teamwork" poster, sloganed "Many hands, many minds, one goal" and available in poster-size or as a framed 8x10 print. The picture selected to illustrate the concept of Teamwork is...The Great Wall of China.

Now, I was not sure if perhaps some piece of esoteric information had managed to pierce my history-resistant brain, so I just polled my co-workers, and no: it is pretty much common knowledge that, although the Wall is an imposing monument, it was built mostly by slave labor, cost China uncalculable resources, and "the difficult conditions under which the laborers worked was in essence a death sentence." Many hands, indeed...not to mention legs and torsos and heads, all buried inside the wall, according to legend. This is either a really stupid move on some poster publisher's part, or a subtle and brilliant piece of subliminal influence, designed to reinforce in cube-dwellers the sense that they literally have no choice but to show up, wear a tie, and file those TPS reports. At any rate, I salute their monumental bad judgment/Machiavellian evil, as the case may be. Nice job, guys!