Hustle

What’s the point?

I chafe against the current culture of hustle.  There seems to be this belief that ‘getting ahead’ whatever that means is the be-all and end-all of human existence.  I know it’s always been this way, but I’m tired.  I’m tired of shamelessly, aggressively, self-satisfied, and mostly belligerent ‘successful’ men (and yes it’s usually men) yelling at us that all we need to do is work harder, work longer, work smarter – hustle solves all problems.

Part of what bothers me is that, like all good cons, there is a kernel of truth in this.  Certainly, if you work harder and focus on whatever it is, you can overcome inertia and get stuff done.  That’s the truth.

The lie part is that it somehow is the panacea for all your life ills.  Another worrying thing is that this assumption of the universal efficacy of hustle allows all the ‘hustle’ pushers to blame anyone who has any challenge with being lazy.  That’s the simple logic.  If you hustle you’ll find ‘success’.  If you’ve got challenges, hustle some more you lazy slob.

The dangerous part of this con is what happens when the acolyte can’t run fast enough to keep up with the hustle wagon.  When they fall off the back from mental or physical exhaustion.  The hustle wagon moves on.  There is no second thought, no pausing to help the fallen.  That you couldn’t keep up is your fault.  They’ve got big things to do.

The reason it is a con is that the break point is built into the assumptions.  The structure of the con is that it doesn’t matter what your physical or mental inventory is you can overcome anything by focus and hustle.  What happens when you hit the wall?  Hustle more!

But, who really wins when the army of inspired hustle themselves to death in the gears of the machine?

The machine wins.  The dealer wins.  The game wins.  The house wins.

You have invested 110% percent of your health and personal capability in the game.  Like a casino victim jacked up on adrenaline and besotted with the need to win.  You lose.  You slink away broken and damaged with empty pockets.

The hustlers will say that no one is hurt in this game.  That by playing the game you come out forged and stronger.  How does that help when you have nothing left to give?  Somehow the inspired acolyte is convinced to ignore the bet.  Even when Paredo knows that 80% of them will end as wreckage because statistics don’t care how hard you hustle.

It’s a moving curve too.  If you hustle harder, everyone else has to hustle harder to keep up.

The best hustlers tell a tale of many failures that they have retched through and emerged phoenix-like to their current high-powered life.  They say things like “Who cares if I lose it all?  I’ll just do it again!”

Hustle is very American.  That one can rise above anything through hard work and wits is our cultural narrative.  Level the playing field and the cream will rise to the top.  It’s that churn that has made us.  We don’t just win games, we move on to invent new games so we can win those too.

Unbridled hustle gives the hustlers an excuse to do bad things to everyone else.  The logic says that if you are too slow to keep up then you don’t deserve to be treated as an equal.  This enables the categorization and demonization of entire classes of peoples.

It’s a short leap when the ends justify the means from hustle to rapaciousness.

Hustle becomes a smokescreen for racism, sexism, and ageism.  If you can’t win, it’s your own fault.  The playing field is level and you’re just lazy or stupid or undeserving.

This fetishizing and glamorization of hustle is manifest in the boom times.  When the rising economic tide lifts all boats.  The hustlers don’t realize they are participating in a great cyclical largess.  They think they caused it.  They think they invented it.

It’s ironic that the winners of the hustle game then spend their fortunes trying to find meaning in life.  The con gets them too.  They got sold the same bill of goods.  The won the game and ending up with the realization that there was no game to be won.  Now they need to meditate and found charities.

This is a topic I need to think through more.  I see the great democratizing value of hustle.  I understand the power of this competitive drive to change the world.

I’m not sure I have an answer.  It’s one of those things where the answer is tucked into the folds of nuance and needs to be pried out gingerly.

Let’s leave it with a warning.  From one old hustler to the next generation.  When you get hyper focused on one track you will become fragile and typically end up confused and unfulfilled.  Lift your head up and look around at the things you are missing.  An engine cannot run in the red-zone forever.

It’s ok to pull over and look at the view every once in a while.  You need to change that oil and sharpen the saw.

This is not a winner-take-all game.  You, me and the hustlers are all on the same journey.

Find your balance.