Continuing on the theme of all things podcasts that I’m listening to — which I’ve explored in some recent posts — a few months ago I started regularly listening to the New Yorker‘s “Politics and More” podcast. I’m a fan of the New Yorker magazine, so when I learned of the podcast, I figured I’d likely not be disappointed. And disappointed I was not, Dear Reader.
The typical format for this podcast is for a host to interview the author of an article in the magazine, and/or to talk at length about the article topic. As the magazine’s writers are simultaneously whip-smart and excellent communicators — as are the hosts — the conversations generally are great listens.
Your Hasanment: Listen to this podcast
A recent episode, however, featured comedian and TV program-host Hasan Minhaj as a guest. Minhaj first became widely known as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He wasn’t my favorite correspondent ever on the show (Steven Colbert, Steve Carrell, and Samantha Bee jointly hold that honor). But the bar was set so high on that show. So the fact that I think Minhaj was an outstanding correspondent is very high praise.
Minhaj now hosts his own show, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj. I admit to not having watched that show much. But it’s now high on my list of shows to binge. Anyway, the podcast with Minhaj focused about half on the show and the other half on Minhaj himself. Minhaj said two things that really piqued my interest. This blog post will focus on one of them. I’ll write another post on the other.
Minhaj was born in California, but his parents are immigrants from India. The family’s evolution in America seems to demonstrate the timeless story of generational differences and evolution in the new country: The parents retain a lot of the old country and one way of thinking, and the American-born children think of themselves as as American as anyone and have a different way of looking at things.
Don’t you know, we’re talkin’ ’bout an evolution
But it’s the how Minhaj perfectly described this evolution that struck me. He said, “I definitely take a ton of inspiration from . . . my mom and dad. Just their work ethic and hustle. And they just never took anything for granted. Everything — and this can be a good thing — feels like it can go away at any time. So make the most of it. . . . I can feel mom and dad like watching me, be like ‘You’re very lucky to do this. They’re gonna take it away if you don’t do it right. That desire to sort of overachieve. But, I think the biggest difference. And I owe this to them. Is their whole thing when they came to this country was surviving. And I feel like my generation, and I hope my daughter’s generation, it’s about living. And there’s a big difference in that. When you’re surviving, you sort of placate the status quo. You don’t wanna ruffle any feathers. You don’t tell Ellen [DeGeneres], ‘Pronounce my name properly.’ Like put some respect on it. . . . Say my name. Muhammad Ali-style. And that’s the difference between surviving and living. And I want my daughter to sort of unapologetically be herself. I want her to be able to talk about her background and what she believes in and what she’s about. I just want her to have that audacity.”
Excellent.
I will survive
Survival, I think we all can agree, is a good thing. And given that it seems that Mother Nature is trying to kill humanity by hook or by crook (see, e.g., the ‘rona, antibiotic resistance, testosterone-fueled stupidity, and bacon), it’s no mean feat to accomplish day after day.
But as Minhaj so eloquently suggests, a survival-focused life is inferior to a living-focused one. In short, he argues, we all should strive to be our authentic, audacious, and assertive selves. I agree.
But that’s not to discount Minhaj’s parents way of thinking. In fact, I think to bridge the gap between the different focuses of parents and child, it’s essential to examine and appreciate them together.
Minhaj’s parents’ decision to pick up sticks and move as adults to a country halfway around the world was at least no less audacious than Minhaj asserts that his “living” is. In fact, one could argue it’s at least as audacious an act as any a person might undertake.
But while Minhaj’s parents demonstrated clear boldness in moving, they also seemed to have fully appreciated high-stakes of their gamble. Presumably, when they got to the United States (and, it sounds like, for a long time thereafter; and maybe still), they were hyperfocused on starting from nothing and “making it.” Anything that might “rock the boat” presumably could derail those plans. In short, survival was key. If “[e]verything . . . feels like it can go away at any time” is your way of thinking — and, as I think, it’s a perfectly reasonable one (if not the only logical one) — then to adopt Minhaj’s “living” mentality is a bomb that easily can detonate and destroy your plans: i.e., making it (to say nothing of, succeeding wildly) in the new country. So Minhaj’s goal of “living” rests on privilege that his parents’ boldness and hyperfocus allowed for.
Self-directed
But let’s look at things from Minhaj’s perspective. I take his argument to be that with his parents so focused on overachieving and not ruffling any feathers, they sacrificed being their authentic selves. And that may have scared them off from such things as unapologetically expressing their opinions or following certain of their passions. And so, when they die, they won’t have lived the life they might have truly wanted. As it’s awfully hard to do things after you’ve, you know, died. Those foregone acts cannot be done.
On balance, I like the Minhaj approach to life over his parents’. But as I also am more easily able to follow this way of thinking because of the privilege that my ancestors allowed for by abandoning their life in the shtetl (whether by choice or at the business end of a gun).
What’s this got to do with personal finance? I’m glad you screamed in exasperation asked, Dear Reader.
Survival is a basic instinct that I don’t think we can turn on and off willy-nilly. Even if we’re focused on “living,” if an event happens that seriously threatens our survival — or even the life we have become accustomed to living — I think that survival instinct kicks in and overrides any plans we might have had. We might take actions that once seemed far-fetched and/or irrational, and do them in quick succession.
FI can do it
FI resolves many survival needs and allows for the “living” focus to flourish. That is, adequate FI eliminates a lot (most?) financial threats to our survival. And it can go a long way to addressing the nonfinancial threats, such as by allowing for the purchase of health care to fully address bacon-induced arteriosclerosis the ‘rona.
Of course, “financial independence” is a relative term.
Minhaj, I would think, has done well for himself financially. But, assuming that his parents’ also did well financially and allowed Minhaj to live a stable (if not downright comfortable) childhood that enabled him to learn/obtain skills allowing him to succeed on his own, that I think was key to his ultimate success. Put another way, I don’t know if Minhaj’s parents monetarily bankrolled him to where he is today. But they certainly allowed the privileges that follow from a stable financial position to fertilize the ground in which he grew.
So let’s all focus on achieving FI, whether of the coast, barista, lean, or fat variety, and being our authentic selves. But let’s also remember that for many (most?) of us, it was the survival-focused audacity of one ancestor or another, and possibly others among our family and friends, who helped allow for our success.
Oh, and whatever our focus, let’s all do all we can to prevent our ceasing to be.
