author: K.M. / July 11, 2004 [edited January 19, 2012]
[Hustler is a broad term]
The funny thing about life is there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. The problem is some of us fall short before we get there. What adds to the joke is when we’re told we can achieve anything especially when what we want is empty and useless. Plus, it comes with fine print: Payment starts on the arrival of success.
So, now why should I bother? I bother because I have no choice but to be successful but what happens to those around me? What is the price for my success? No matter how good and noble it is there is a price. Let’s get philosophical. Maybe the price is for how you gain that success and not what the success is. Sounds obvious doesn’t it? But what if that was the only way opened for you to become accomplished? Should you then say, “Well, maybe success wasn’t for me” and forgo any avenues where the price is too high?
We are conditioned from we are young to answer in the affirmative to that question. On the other hand we are told if we want a reward and we work hard enough for it then we deserve it. So, now who’s going to decide the work::success ratio (work::success ratio is just a term I made up to define the amount of work one has to do to deserve the success we achieve) in the world? Is it the criminals, the judges, the politicians, suburbia or is it the black man, the white man, the Asian, the Latino or is it me? If I said it was GOD or some other supreme being I would get more nods of agreement. So, out of the above list which one of them is GOD?
I admit that we need structure and order so society can function and progress but in the society I live in all I see is oppression, depression and unattainable goals. Someone is trying to play GOD in this set-up and doing a very poor job. We have come to the point where if you’re not born with it then the gold spoon is unattainable. That’s a shame because when my work::success ratio comes up if say I was a hustler and you were born to money then I should theoretically win that contest. My work for success, in that scenario, would far outpace the individual born to wealth and I would be deserving of that status if status was based on that ratio. In the communities we live in it is implied that it is. Implication and reality don’t run parallel, however.
The question comes up now as to why that hustler didn’t go to school – as any good little kid would – so he/she could work for that rich lawyer or that next Donald Trump. Basically, stating that a hustler can have no credentials equal to a “successful” business person because they did not first go through the channels that would see them permanently become the lackey of those who have already been rewarded. Maybe they saw themselves as being better than any Donald Trump and they wanted their own set of towers. Is there a fault in that logic?
Some would say yes and to them I would ask why they believe those in power didn’t rise to power with the same logic. To become bigger and better. To grow the human potential in unique ways. That is the underlying motivation towards progress. Should the road to that growth matter?
If the success of those in charge and their status isn’t the goal then why does society treat an individual as less than if they don’t have that position or rank. Trading places seems appropriate right about now. The poor man could maybe see money isn’t everything and the rich man might be able to understand why the poor man thinks he doesn’t have anything except the hope that his hard work will help him make it to the end of the tunnel. The establishment will tell those in the working class who gain wealth (i.e. a gambler or a lottery winner) that their version of “being born with money” is immoral. Some might even die trying the “easy” way out. If it was so easy then why did they die? Just questions.
Don’t get me wrong, I know what my goals are in life and I think I can justify why and how I become wealthy (sarcasm). What I know is that I have been judged but the hypocrisy in our cultures makes that judgement inapplicable. That leaves the question of who is GOD and does the consequence of narrow minded views equal to the qualities a GOD should possess.
Summary:
Everyone is born with a gift and a talent and they may not be the same but the privileges they guarantee should be equal (different but equal). In the end though, some forms of success will be deemed worthless due to the way in which it came about no matter the motivations or reasons for choosing said avenue. A negative judgment will inevitably befall you from two positions: Those above you who play GOD and say you didn’t work hard enough or the people beneath who out of jealousy agree with the man above you and deem your success unequal because they want your reward without the work.
My hustle strives for the kind of success that will benefit those around me in the same situation looking for a way out but will the means I employ make me so poor (in the eyes of our flawed culture) that there is no benefit for anyone?