Hustle Porn is Ruining You

You might know it better as struggle porn. The gist is this: struggle is good. Suffering is good. You struggle, sweat and suffer for your work because that’s how you succeed. You work dawn till dusk and then keep working some more because that’s the way to get ahead and as long as you’re doing that, you can’t possibly fail.

There are lots of problems with that. Chief among them is that struggling guarantees nothing. Sure, struggling can be a necessary part of life, and the willpower to struggle through something difficult is something every man should possess. But continuous struggle is pretty obviously a bad thing. If you’re constantly struggling at your job, you’re probably bad at your job. If you’re good at your job and still struggling, you either work way too hard or you’re working in a toxic environment. 

This is especially prevalent in the tech and gaming industry, and the Red Dead Redemption 2 scandal is only the most recent and visible example of hustle porn causing problems.

Working hard is good. Having the ability to handle struggle is good. Fetishising and celebrating these things above all else is just stupid. Life is not supposed to be a continuous struggle. Work is not supposed to be a continuous struggle. A struggle is a sign that something is not right. The definition of struggle is literally to make strenuous or violent efforts in the face of difficulties or opposition. 

The implication is that a struggle is supposed to end. The whole point of a struggle is to end a difficult situation. If all you do is struggle, you’re going to fail. If you’re constantly struggling, it’s time to do something different.