Hard-work Is A Term That Exploits African-Americans
What is working hard? Why has it been pushed on us so much? Are the people that spend countless hours working on their business truly getting ahead? Does the disciplined person always beat the talented person? These are genuine questions that have no true answer. Here are my thoughts below:
Staying consistent in anything you do will help you improve the skillset but that does not mean you will be great. I’ve met people that have been in their field for years and have remained average. Working hard is a loaded statement full of propaganda. It pushes people to force their way to success under the microscope, that if they do the right things all will go well. In some cases it is true but is extremely limiting in our human experience. Discipline is simply self-mastery, but discipline doesn’t mean you have control over your environment. Following a disciplined path based on what others have done will not produce extraordinary results. It will produce what is common and what has been done before. Following what has been done before is valuable in progressing quickly but it is not a golden ticket. Personal circumstances can change what type of sucess you achieve. Your network, capital, childhood, tendencies, and mindset are factors that often go unaccounted for.
As a Black man, in my community I see and know many people that work hard but do not reach the levels of success they’d like. People working 3 jobs, or spending 12 hours on their business and still remain in the same spot. The truth is that faith and information can take you further than hard work ever will. People that believe hard work is the solution to success are limiting their scope surrounding life. Consistent difficult work is actually lazy. If things are always hard, you are not doing the work to make them easy. Finding a less resistant solution to your path requires true effort and brain power. If the difficulty of making things easier becomes the definition of hard work then I’d be behind it. However I cannot get behind the false narrative that hard work is the answer especially after seeing the harm hard work has caused to many Black people in society. The propaganda of hard work will continue to drive people up a wall, stress Black people out, and exploit the behavior of underpriveleged communities.
Discipline cannot beat a talented person with information. I think the analogy that has become famous has another layer that people don’t look at. Discipline is triumphant against the talented person who is afraid. Talented people are labeled as such because they have extraordinary capabilities with minimal effort. Understanding how to harness that power is better than being disciplined. The reality is that it doesn’t matter how much someone else may practice if they are still out-skilled. I could get the best trainers money could buy for sprinting but does that mean I can beat Usain Bolt? I’d like to believe there is a very slim chance but that is the reality of life.
Often I see comments aiming that Black people don’t want to work and get in their own way regarding success. Being Black covers a large disapora of people and normally these negative statements are aimed at African-American’s specifically. Foreigners or families who’s parents are first generation immigrants see our world differently. They are not direct descendants of the exploitation African-American’s went through. Why would we ever reveer hard work when our ancestors suffered to build this country. After building a successful economy under intense free labor, it’s a slap in the face to tell African-Americans they need to earn their rights to happiness and success. Based on my views I’d be categorized as a socialist or a person looking for a handout. Which is not true, but I do believe African-Americans are deserving of equity. In the Black community “handout-culture” is frowned upon. Everything must be earned, but when we escape that narrow lens of the world; you can see that other groups in society help their community’s rise. Generations have been able to leap ahead because the people before them have something to hand down; whether it was knowledge, capital, or social leverage. Outside of the Black community, “handouts” are a form of grace and correction. It is the opposite of hard work, it’s being smart, creating less reistance for those coming after so they can move further in life. Sadly most Black communities operate under the philosophy of I did it you can go get it on your own. It’s a harmful process that manifests itself in the form of isolation and bitterness.
Hard work is a close friend to trauma if you are a part of an underserved community.
Some people go through so much discomfort and pain to achieve, that it blinds them from helping others. They believe that others are deserving of experiencing the same pain in order to achieve their goals and dreams. It’s a sad cycle. A Black man goes through extreme pain to hit the mountain top. Attached to the bitterness of success he hoards his wealth, resources, and social leverage. It’s a trauma bond. The people coming after him, want a taste of that as well, but are denied access because they need to earn it on their own. They go out and earn it on their own, coming out with the same scars the Black men ahead of them have. They isolate themselves, repeating the vicious cycle. Not all Black people operate in this mode of existence but it is common. The proof of this is shown in how divided the Black dispora is. Flex culture and some Black elites rather flaunt what others don’t have than to help others get their’s too. I will not bash a 9–5 or corporate America, but there are African-Americans devoted to pushing other Black people to exploit themselves for companies in order to live a fulfilling life. I have no problem with people working to gain financial benefit. But when people begin to bend and exert themselves for the sake of money it makes me cringe. When you mention alternative ways to achieving without exploiting your will and mind people tend to think I am crazy. My awareness does not allow me to unsee the world around me. I cannot promote hard work when I see companies like Clubhouse being evaluated for billions after only 8 months of work. Meanwhile some single mothers/fathers are working 2 jobs for decades to support their family and never come close to even a million. It takes extreme discpline and will to work two jobs for decades but that will not make you a millionaire or billionaire. It will not give you access to a life beyond survival. Hard work is subjective and the hardest workers in our society tend to lack information or resources, often leading to them being exploited.
What are your thoughts surrounding hard work? Peace and love 🖤🤎.
