The Greatest Scam of Our Generation
I love being lazy. I love my free time. To me there’s nothing more satisfying than when you’ve gotten your homework done and/or clocked out of work and you just sit on the couch and do what you love to do: read, draw, watch something, or just sit in silence and stare into nothing. There’s nothing better than waking up on a weekend or a day off without an alarm.
Now imagine my surprise and confusion when I started seeing “rise and grind” all over social media a few years back or so. People bragging about how they’re working well over 40 hours a week and saying how much better it was to be your own boss rather than working for someone else. Phrases like “I’d rather hustle 24/7 than slave 9 to 5” continue to make no sense to me personally because a 9 to 5 workday sounds way better than the 12 or more hour shifts that many people across the country are working. People taking pride in barely eating and sleeping in the name of making bank sound less like they’re making their dreams come true and more like they need genuine help.
It’s often agreed that a lot of good can come out of hard work. Working hard in school can bring good grades, working hard at exercising can bring a healthier, fitter body, etc. In the beloved Disney film, Princess and the Frog, Tiana always talks about working hard and how it can be more beneficial than just simply wishing for something. But even she had to take a step back from this mentality.
Where is the line drawn between hard work and pushing yourself past your limits? In our high stress, fast paced world, there’s always the notion that you can do more, or that you’re not doing enough. Constant productivity has become king, and toxic as well.
Rise and Grind/Hustle culture is one of the biggest modern day scams as it posits constantly working for often unrealistic successes at the expense of basic human needs and ignores systemic issues responsible for financial instability and worry; technology and social media has made people more willing to “hustle” through convenience and motivation.
DON’T HATE THE PLAYER HATE THE GAME
The main idea of hustle culture is essentially that people can do more to earn an extra buck, whether it be start their own business, sell their art and crafts, get a second job, or just work more in your one job if you can. Everyone could stand to gain more, so why not do more to earn it?
While all of this may seem good in theory to some people, hustle culture and the idea that working constantly can bring about good fortune often ignores the realities of working today and the many problems that have arisen in late stage capitalism. It shifts the responsibility of good pay away from systemic issues that need to be addressed to the average person. It posits the idea that it’s not the stagnant wages or exorbitant costs of living that’s giving you money problems, those are just excuses, and you’re simply not working hard or long enough.
And that’s not to say that there aren’t any benefits to working more/longer. If you’re paid overtime or by the hour, then working longer in a day/week can put an extra buck in your pocket, which is beneficial if you’re saving up for something or wanting to catch up on rent.
But it starts to become worrisome when people are working twelve or more hour days, several days on end, all while only making enough to just barely cover their costs of living. It becomes a problem when you’re spending more time at work and less at home. You begin to ask: “What’s the point, if I can’t even enjoy what I’m earning?”
A big part of hustle culture is shaming individuals into working more; free time is just wasted time, and if you have ample amounts of free time, well then you’re just not working hard like the successful billionaires of our lifetime who worked their way up to the top. Except when you’re working multiple minimum wage jobs and having to pay for necessities, it’s much harder to “climb the ladder” when you can barely pay for rent or insurance.
Many Americans work minimum wage jobs. The federal minimum is still $7.25 an hour (which has not changed in over 10 years), nowhere near covering the continuously rising costs of living. Sure, different states and cities are raising their minimum wages to keep up with rents and such, but it’s often not enough. Many people have resorted to working multiple jobs just to keep food on the table and a roof over their head.
It’s not just the typical minimum wage jobs at grocery stores and restaurants that have this issue either. Even some careers such as teaching have to deal with wages so low that they have no other choice but to take up a weekend job just to make ends meet. And this has unfortunately become our new normal. People who have multiple jobs are praised for taking the incentive to work more rather than having to ask why they should have to work this much just to be able to live. And when you’re working yourself to the bone, is it living? When is the line drawn between “hustling” and “exploitation”?
With the onset of the pandemic and the laying off of millions, many people in some states have ended up finding out that unemployment in fact paid more than their previous jobs. It begs the question then: why go back to work when the job pays way less than the bare minimum amount given to survive?
The minimum wage in the U.S. was meant to be a “living wage” according to FDR. But there’s no real living if you have to work two or three jobs just to decide whether to eat or to pay rent. It doesn’t help that CEOs and even our elected officials are so hesitant on raising wages despite the fact that higher pay could drastically change the living standards of many people across the country.
It’s not just minimum wage workers that suffer from the ideals of working till you break for monetary benefit, either. Professionals also become victims to the “hustle”, with many workers choosing to stay past their usual leave time just to finish up a project, or simply for the “thrill” of working. A regular 9–5 isn’t sufficient anymore.
However, even people who would prefer not to stay past their usual hours are still oftentimes forced by their bosses to work insane hours. This is seen as less of a possible management problem and more of a display of earnest hard work and loyalty to your job.
Many companies, especially those in the tech sector, have played around with and even begun implementing basic necessities for their workers such as food and even grooming (haircuts and shaves). The idea is to allow the employee to build their whole lives around this company; they don’t just work at the company, they live at the company. While this may sound nice, if you really think about it, it sort of sounds a little dystopian that most of your life would end up revolving around your workplace.
But is the company looking out for their employees, or is it just offering incentives that will keep them loyal and compliant? Why retaliate (collectively or individually) against your employer when they treat you so well, even when you’re on the verge of burning out and your workspace environment is still possibly a toxic one? Readily available breakfasts and ping pong tables doesn’t automatically get rid of the usual creepy coworker or asshole managers.
Many Americans believe in the “American Dream” and that our society is a meritocracy, where those who work and are talented/smart enough can find success. We often believe that wealthy people are wealthy because they have worked their way to that status. After all, we love a good underdog narrative, a “rags to riches” story about someone escaping poverty to the life that they deserve because of what they’ve accomplished.
But how true is the American Dream to the average American? I think we all know at least one person who has worked their asses off for years, yet still struggle to live paycheck to paycheck. Sure we can go back to school, but even with a fancy Masters degree, will we really be able to earn more? Not to mention the very specific and often unrealistic qualifications that jobs require for new hires. Sure we can simply ask for a raise or promotion, try to prove our worth to our bosses, yet societal factors could prevent that from happening.
CONSTANT CONNECTIVITY
Social media is a great place to be exposed to new ideas and influences. There’s no exception when it comes to hustle culture and its rapid spread online.
You’ll often find “gurus” on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube who promise to teach you how to earn more money, yet their advice is vague and behind paywalls as well. They act more like motivational coaches and preach the benefits of creating your own successful business.
According to these gurus, having a mindset fit for success is what matters; negativity about anything will only bring you down, and having positive thoughts is key. If you failed, well then, you didn’t want it bad enough, or you didn’t have the positive mindset you should have. You’re the only thing keeping you from achieving your dreams (and not the aforementioned systemic issues and anything else outside of your control that can affect your work).
Hustle motivation includes images of wealth and luxury; if you work hard enough you can get a nice big house, a gorgeous sports car, and anything else you could possibly want thanks to the influx of cash you’ll eventually be getting. The motivational images also include pictures of well known billionaires like Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos as examples of people who have worked hard from the bottom and gotten to where they were.
LinkedIn has sort of become a social media hub for professionals. Business owners, CEOs, and managers share motivation and articles extolling the virtues of working. There’s even LinkedIn Stories (similar to Instagram and Snapchat stories) where people can share their advice, motivation and professional accomplishments. One could argue that these features are helpful as LinkedIn is not only a job searching site, but also a networking platform where the more connections you make, the better your job search could be.
Hustle culture as presented online usually values entrepreneurship over anything else, that being your own boss is better than being the pawn. Hence the phrase “I’d rather hustle 24/7 than slave 9 to 5”. But of course, starting your own business is a super risky venture that, if it fails, could land you in deep financial trouble. So might as well work your normal job while ALSO working hard to get whatever business you have in mind off the ground, no matter how long it takes.
Hustling has become the American Individualism of the 21st century, or rather, the end product of it. Success only for yourself, and you need to achieve it all on your own. Family and community take a backseat to your grinding towards wealth.
WORKING UNTIL YOU DROP
If you have not experienced burnout, or were never on the verge of burnout, you’re lucky. It’s not a good feeling at all, to not be motivated for anything and to dread even doing one small task.
When you’re “hustling” and “grinding” every day, hours on end, you become closer to burning out, to becoming a husk of yourself. That’s because humans aren’t meant for constantly working. We need rest and relaxation, we need to eat and sleep. Because if you don’t you can really do some serious damage to your body and mind.
The “hustle” has got such a strong hold on workers that they even begin to feel bad and even guilty for having to take a day off for their wellbeing. They want to be seen as hardworking by their coworkers and managers. It all comes back to hustle culture’s shame of downtime.
Earlier this month, Jonathan Frostick, a program manager at an investment bank in London had his LinkedIn post go viral after he suffered a heart attack. The combined stress of working in the pandemic as well as just working constantly (he was getting the week’s work ready on a Saturday) took a big toll on him. Even during the heart attack, the first thing he thought of was how this would affect his job, and how inconvenient it was.
He and many people commenting had come to the similar conclusion that living for working was not worth it in the long run, especially when your own health could be at risk.
The mental toll of overworking is also devastating; your social interactions are little to none, and you’re thinking of nothing else but work. You feel less like a human being and more like a tool to be used. Even if you’re “your own boss”, you’re still exploiting yourself just for the sake of working. As I said before, while working hard does give benefits, overworking is only going to make you miserable.
The pandemic hasn’t made things any better. Professionals who have been sent home are finding themselves working more, sitting through hours of Zoom meetings. Other factors such as raising families, even less person-to-person communication, and the looming threat of being infected is pushing people to the brink.
I remember being told that students usually get sick around midterms and finals because of the stress of studying. The professor said that if you listen to the room during an exam, you can hear people coughing and sniffling because they just so happened to get a cold around this time. Stress can weaken your immune system, making you vulnerable to infection and disease. When you’re stressed from working overtime at home or dealing with being an essential worker, this can increase the likelihood of getting COVID, which is a terrifying thought to say the least.
And what is probably the worst thing out of all of this is that now younger generations are having to learn to “grind” as they’re saddled with tons of homework, on top of having to study late into the night just so that they can excel at their SATs, ACTs, and AP exams so that they can get into the best college possible. Teens are also expected to join an extracurricular, volunteer, and get a job on top of this. My peers and I definitely felt these enormous pressures when we were in high school, and nothing is really slowing down for teens and kids now.
THE BALLAD OF THE ANTI-HUSTLERS
So what now? What can we do going forward to improve working conditions and foster healthier attitudes towards working?
There are many individuals who have had to sit back and reevaluate their work-life balance, or even realize that there was no balance as their work took over their whole life. People have had to relearn how to relax, relearn that it’s okay to not be productive all the time.
There are more and more people now who have begun to realize the toxicity of hustle culture and have spoken out against it, and even more so against the systemic issues that have essentially created it. The culture is now being shamed by people for fostering toxic working environments and normalizing working until you break.
I think a big part of rejecting hustle culture is recognizing exploitation and freeing yourself from it. A labor movement is starting to grow in the U.S., with more calls for raised wages to meet the expensive standards of living and even advocating for four day work weeks where we can be truly productive without having to stay in the workplace for longer than needed. Discussions on unionizing across multiple industries have become more frequent and popular.
Teachers have also begun to make their students’ lives a bit easier by not giving them homework at all, as their after school lives are already busy enough. It makes more sense after all to keep the classwork in the classroom.
There’s also a need to recognize that it’s okay to rest, and not be productive or on your game all the time. Self-care tips have gained more traction online with advice ranging from how to take care of your body so that you’re healthy to posts saying that it’s perfectly fine to have a lazy day. It didn’t matter, just as long as your brain wasn’t constantly thinking about homework or work.
Overall, there just needs to be a big overhaul of how Americans view work and reckoning with whether or not individualism really is as important as we’re led to believe. Until then, consider some of your downtime your own little act of rebellion against the Rise and Grind machine.
