Whether you are an avid reader, chances are you’ve heard about Amy Chua‘s book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, which was published in 2011. The book affirmed the author’s belief that her strict style of “Chinese” parenting gave her children a unique advantage in the U.S. where “western” parenting appeared to be much more lax. Chua received a lot of backlash for her theories, to which she defended herself by stating that the book was tongue-in-cheek and people were taking it far too serious. But it seems in her latest book, The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America, she is back to letting everyone know why Chinese culture is superior to others, but her tongue is no longer planted firmly in her cheek. These are her very real — and very problematic — theories. Basically, you’re not BUILT for success unless you’re Chinese, Indian, or Jewish.
Chua’s latest book, co-written by her Jewish husband Jed Rubenfeld, identifies the eight specific ethnic groups in America who are the most successful as: Chinese, Mormon, Cuban, Nigerian, Jewish, Indian, Lebanese, and Iranian. Then, the book attempts to explain that people in these groups all share three specific traits that give them an advantage over all other cultures:
1. A sense of superiority
2. Deep Insecurity
3. Impulse control
Although this book offers a myriad of caveats, the authors want you to know that you’re not BUILT for success like these other cultural groups, simply because the three traits needed to be successful are more ingrained in those ethnic groups than others. But if I could sit down with Chua and Rubenfled, I would ask them to define “success” and then explain why their definition is any more relevant than anyone else’s?
And herein lies the problem with all of the conversations we typically have about “success” in America — it’s too heavily predicated on salary and scholastic achievements. In The Triple Package, as in life, there’s little mention about being a “good person.” So essentially, you can deem yourself to have won at life solely based on your bank account balance and the string of letters after your name, and if you are a maladjusted, chronically-depressed, emotionally-unavailable, unpleasant, and ignorant person, that has little bearing on how you should be judged in terms of your level of accomplishment. And it’s precisely this kind of bullshit thinking that is ruining modern western civilization.
We now consider excellence in the arts to be a thing only worthy of hobbies, as opposed to careers we actually respect. If you’re a dancer, a painter, or a poet, you aren’t judged on the beauty of your work, but on how much money you’ve made in your respective field. We now judge people by their tangible accomplishments instead of praising their intrinsic character. Who cares if you are a caring and loving person, how many degrees do you have?
Look, I’m not advocating that we ignore the business contributions made by the titans of industry so we can give more hugs and gold stars to “nice” people, but I am advocating that we begin to develop a more well-rounded ideology of success. Instead of just using someone’s net worth to judge their ascendency, let’s also recognize people and cultures that promote unity, love, work-life balance, and raising emotionally mature children. Once we start doing that, then we can come back to this discussion about what cultures are achieving the most success. But if this conversation is going to be predicated solely on finance, then we are light years away from scratching the surface on what ethnic groups truly experience the most happiness and success.
LAB
Lincoln Anthony Blades blogs daily on his site ThisIsYourConscience.com, he’s an author of the book “You’re Not A Victim, You’re A Volunteer” and a weekly contributor for UPTOWN Magazine. He can be reached via Twitter @lincolnablades and on Facebook at This Is Your Conscience.