A Meassure of Success

In the last several classes we watched parts of The Up Series, a series that follows the lives of a group of participants at seven year intervals. To start, we watched the series for when the participants were seven and then the series when the participants were 28.

It bothers me to think that we measured success in terms of cars, houses, marital status, occupation, and so on.

Whether or not one lives in a society based on contest mobility or status mobility, defining success by cars etc simply means that an individual is buying into the hegemonic values. Essentially, these values are only valued because we are socialized to believe in their value.

What’s really the value in a car? Hardly a more destructive invention has there ever been. The car has brought on climate change, road systems that arbitrarily divide communities, suburbia, just to name a few. Is happiness really driving through two hours of rush hour five days a week? What does it really say about someone who has to define him/herself by the car s/he drives?

Why not find other ways to define success? Why shouldn’t success be measured by contributions made, smiling at a strangers, steps taken to reduce your carbon footprint, social norms challenged such as sexism, and the list could go on.

If one defines success by the rules of the game, especially in a contest or status mobility society, then one is not doing anything to better society. Conformity will never bring change. Fellow classmates have blogged on which society is better. But I say neither of them is better. Our “society” doesn’t work. Children are still going hungry. Countries would still rather drop bombs on each other than negotiate. Corporations are still telling teenagers what to wear. People still listen to Paul Anka, which is only a matter of taste.

If you play by the rules of society, you are doing nothing to change society.