Fast Cars and Baltimore

Last month, our men's book club read and discussed Outliers The Story of Success   by Malcolm Gladwell. For those who haven't read this excellent book: Through a series of anecdotal profiles,  he defines the reasons that people become successful,  and also the the reasons for the lack of success of others. There are two main themes to the success stories. One is the 10,000 hour rule, that is, that it takes at least 10,000 hours of hard work or practice to become proficient in a chosen field. One of the examples he uses is that of the Beatles, who, before bursting onto the scene in 1964, had spent years together playing in clubs in England and Germany. While many of their competitors were three chord wonders, the Beatles had, by the time they appeared on Ed Sullivan, become accomplished musicians. Of course, the 10,000 hour rule is no guarantee of success, but that much work is necessary to reach the peak of proficiency.

The other theme, that he stressed, is that essentially no one becomes successful without help along the way. That, the concept of the "self made man" is bogus. This help that successful people receive can come in many forms, and it is very often a series of intervening helpful circumstances that lift people up in this world. These compounding circumstances can be as simple as being born in October or November so that a person might be 20% or so more mature or coordinated than his peers. In these cases, a teacher or coach might take interest in one's development. It may be the advantage one receives by being born into an upper middle class well educated family that can afford to spend the time and effort needed to guide a child to excel and to learn the interpersonal IQ needed to make one's way in society. It may be some special circumstance, such as being afforded computer time on a mainframe at an early age, or having a truly accomplished musician take interest in your piano studies

So now I come to the point of the title of this post. We are all hearing about the rioting and violence occurring in Baltimore and other cities over the death of Freddie Gray at the hands of the Baltimore police. The cries from the right are redolent with racist remarks about the Baltimore thugs, too lazy to work, and eager to burn and loot their city. And, I admit that that there is a certain amount of thuggery involved, and a short sighted inclination to shit where you sleep. But, there is also the hopelessness of the fact that the vast majority of the poor blacks in Baltimore and every large urban metropolis in this country will never get a single one of the aforementioned breaks or, much less, a combination of these breaks necessary to break out of their situation. They are raised by poor and poorly educated parents and grandparents, unwilling or unable to give them proper guidance. They are warehoused in underfunded and under performing schools, administered by school boards, county commissions, and states that are not willing to take on the roll of surrogate parenthood that these children need. They live in neighborhoods where unemployment is high and the hope of employment is low, and because their experiences of the world outside their boundaries is limited, they are unwilling or unable to leave.

And the fast cars portion of my post title? The song "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman, which portrays the reality and hopelessness of the inner city better than I can ever express. It's enough to make me cry.