by J. Pharoah Doss
False options plague public debate, leading to pointless discussions. A Fox News anchor recently questioned the border czar about whether illegal entry into the country was considered a “crime or misdemeanor.” The border czar knew the anchor meant to say “misdemeanor or civil infraction,” so it was easy for him to overlook the false option to avoid a pointless discussion.
However, during actor Anthony Mackie’s recent interview on The Pivot Podcast, he made a statement about success that presented a false option that could not be overlooked.
Mackie said, “We’re lying to our kids, and that’s a big problem in our community … We tell our kids that if they do right, make good grades, and go to the programs, they will become successful if they work hard enough.
Your work will be paid off, and that’s not true, right?
Success is given. It’s not earned. Because you can be the most brilliant, [but] if one person doesn’t tap you, each one of you [Mackie was talking to ex-NFL players], there were people who could hit harder, who could catch better, and run faster, but somebody said you’re the one, and the other 50 behind you fell off.”
Those who agreed with Mackie believed that his words validated the saying, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.” Those who listened to what Mackie actually said thought that the notion was seriously flawed.
Mackie accused parents of “lying” to their children by assuring them that hard work will pay off, but parents aren’t deceiving their children. The majority of parents are convinced that hard work pays off because they are living examples of it. Of course, the rebuttal will be, “Just because a parent is convinced that something is true doesn’t make it a fact,” and Mackie was simply stating the harsh realities of the world.
Let us assume Mackie is correct and there is no link between hard work and success. Should a parent teach that harsh reality or instill a “noble lie”?
A “noble lie” is a myth that is told because it is more advantageous to believe than the alternative. For instance, people often refer to religion as the “noble lie” that shields humanity from nihilism. Telling a child that hard work leads to success is preferable to telling them otherwise. Even if hard work doesn’t result in success, it would have helped to shape character.
Mackie’s premise that “success is given; it’s not earned” contradicts the basic definition of success, which is the accomplishment of a goal or purpose. The Cambridge Dictionary defines accomplishment as the completion of a task after a significant amount of work or effort.
If Mackie defines success in Hollywood as getting chosen for a role over more deserving individuals who may have spent more time developing their craft, then his point is: hard work does not guarantee success. Everyone would agree with that, yet the majority would also agree that failure is guaranteed without hard work.
Then again, Mackie could have made an error during the interview.
When Mackie told the podcast hosts that there were other players who were better than them but weren’t chosen, it sounds like he meant to say, “Opportunity is given; it’s not earned.”
That makes more sense than “success is given; it’s not earned.”
Regrettably, Mackie’s interview sparked a nonsensical debate over whether success is “given” or “earned.” Sadly, many people agreed not just with the fallacious notion that “success is given” but also that parents should stop lying to their children about hard work.
One writer reported on Mackie’s remarks about success, but the headline read, “Hard Work vs. Luck: The Harsh Truth About Success According to Anthony Mackie.”
Hard work vs. luck?
Here we go again, with another false option leading to another pointless discussion.
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