Failure is not an Option
Literally. The ultimate price for incompetence or sloth used to be you would starve or freeze to death. In many parts of the world this is still the case. Our ancestors faced this reality throughout time.
We however do not. It is illegal to starve to death. If a man were to stand on a street corner and not eat for days until he collapsed, an ambulance would be summoned to take him to the ER. There he would be fed intravenously, nurtured in comfort until he recovered. Then he would be tossed back on the street for another go round.
With the ultimate external motivator of death absent, generations have been taught that they have no pressing reason to do much. So they don’t. They were coddled by parents, given automatic self-esteem in school, rarely pushed or challenged – beyond getting to level 7 on a video game.
And now they say they want to be successful. They want money, fame, glory. But only if it’s easy, expedient, and they won’t have to miss any football games.
Where’s the grim reaper when we need him?