Something I was thinking about in the car today, shuffling through songs that glorify The Hustle, talk about how money is all that matters…It got me wondering if there’s too much media that tells us that working ourselves to death is the only way to live.
Yes, I am of course aware that there’s plenty of media about living a life of leisure, rebelling against the grind, and so on. I’m am of course also aware that a solid work ethic is a generally positive trait.
So the question I guess comes down to balance. What do you see as the prevailing message in the media you see/hear/read? Is it, “Work as hard and amass as much money as you possibly can and nothing else matters?” Or do you see something different/better?
I see the message that anyone who is not rich is a loser. That’s what the problem is. All media characters are aspiring to be rich or they are totally miserable.
There is no respect for the middle class or working class people who are just happy.
Even characters that are presented as poor or middle class have homes, cars, and clothing that would well exceed their means in the real world.
You’ll have a show with a 20 something couple that are “just staring out”, he’s a mechanic at a small independent garage and she’s a struggling singer-songwriter. Without support from their parents they somehow have a 1200 square foot loft in a major city, brand new MacBooks, a top of the line TV, coordinated decor with no flatpack furniture, brand name clothing, and a late model crossover with all the options.
I know product placement is part of it, but it’s still bullshit and unrealistic.
the NU-MOVIES are pretty much that.
I was happy even when apparently far below the poverty line. Had everything I thought I needed.
I think it just depends on what music you’re listening to. I wasn’t able to think of any songs I’ve been listening to in the last year or two that glorified the hustle, if anything they do the opposite. Here’s an example that came to mind when I saw this post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1bW2MBdyLw
The prevailing message in media I see is that the workers should unionise
The media is owned by capitalists. Anything that threatens capital needs to be snuffed out.
This is Tupac who was murdered.
This is Kanye West who is a professed Nazi and still alive.
These songs were within a decade of each other. I know that’s not enough data, but I think the differences in tone can be accounted for which was was more acceptable to power.
I doubt Tupac was murdered by capitalists because he didn’t like them
Maybe. This is all conjecture, but it seems convenient that Tupac who advocated for helping the poor in his music was murdered and all the black artists who popped up after him (Beyonce,JayZ, Kanye for example) are all about “get my money” music.
Of course, I have no evidence, but if you’ve read about all the various CIA psyops over the past 80 years, it doesn’t sound that far fetched.
it also leans heavily into pro-govt propaganda for most mvoies and show.
That’s why I routinely listen to this to fight back against The Hustle.
When you say media, do you mean Rap?
Not sure about OP, but I see this in tons of genres of music along with a lot of films/shows. Working hard, even if not compensated enough to live a happy life, is often portrayed as the best thing you can do while relaxing and not wanting to work is portrayed as lazy and undesirable.
just like these wealthy people releasing thier daily schedule to the media, activities as being “busy” when in fact they have so much time to do anything else but work,
Never forget Musk “works” 120 hours a week, but has enough time to nonstop tweet out random nonsense
silly, hes able to do that becauses hes on cocaine 24/7
not at all, I’m 60, semi retired at 35 and fully retired at 40.
i say work your ass off
I’m am of course also aware that a solid work ethic is a generally positive trait.
I saw a columnist opine we need work or people will get up to no end of mischief.
More people need to do less, most of the destruction of the environment on which we all depend is people doing endless busy work.
and we realize its propaganda to distract people from politics, if you are tired from work all day, you arnt concerned about what politicians are doing behind your back. kinda make sense with republican voters in that some of them , expenses arent super high since they are living in HCOL areas and they can afford to be “watching fox all day” to vote one way. keeping people uneducated and angry plays a part into that.
It seems to be a very common thing in the US, and some around here takes to it from social media, but most people are to busy prioritising life to jump into such a depressing mindset.
Capitalist propaganda. Capitalists pay to make that media, so it’s their culture that gets represented.
Yes. And people just eat it up. I get it. I got caught up in the “hustle and grind” of life. I tried multiple income sources and I was proudly working 80 hours/week while missing my children grow up. But a life altering event caused me to pause and reassess my life. I started working less and spending more time with my family. I worked on myself from being low tempered to be more “go with the flow”
i knew someone in cc that was doing 68hrs/week, end up pratically sleeping at school whenever he can, then had some kind “breakdown” and changed his major away from the “MD” field, yea it wasnt realistic as he wasnt even acing those Pre-stem classes(not even upper division yet), and it would be too expensive , stressful to even compete, i assume it was because he had a AVERAGE in a gen chem class, he wont survive in things like organic chem, biochem(which i took in a 4 year), even physics was brutal for non-scientists. he went with a 180 degree into something totally different. dont know how web designer as a industry is doing now.
dont know how web designer as a industry is doing now.
Bereft with AI slop following sweeping layoffs, so not well.
so i suspected, he probably regrets steering away from health field now.(couldve went nursing or something adjacent0.
It’s a peculiar thing
Very American
I want to work as little as I possibly can. I have plenty to do with my life and making money for someone else isn’t important to me
Not really anymore. I think it was definitely the dominant messaging in the 2010s when people were fighting to be rewarded for their hustle (e.g., lean-in feminism, LGBTQ consumerism, Asian Americans as tech entrepreneurs, rise of the [insert minority here] owned business labeling, etc.), but I find the pendulum has been swinging back the other way towards nihilist external-locus-of-control counterculture. I think we are slowly realizing as a society that we can’t, in fact, work our asses out of systemic oppression by the elites.
yes, the billionaires own the “popular media” and want to continue the “Don’t worry that your life sucks NOW, work hard, eek out an existence, MAYBE MAYBE you too could be wealthy, but if not, don’t worry, AFTER DEATH you get to be wealthy for sure, trust me brah…”
people watching and supporting Ellisons paramounts and htier show are just as responsible as he is what hes doing with it. aka nutrek.
and other news, HP and jk rowlings.
Work will set you free silly goose… fun is for children
Gates over Auschwitz:
Arbeit macht frei, dumme Gans.
Oh snap you got me… ughhhh
and nazis got thier “ethics, segregation” from america, its comes back full circle.
To be honest I only interpret that kind of messaging as “buy my course!” shilling. nobody in real life believes that, so I just disregard it as if I was reading an ad. barely notice it.
