The Philosophy of What It Means to Sell Out

1. Work hard and gain success.
2. Work relaxed, and gain success. ("Sell Out")
3. Work hard, and never gain success. ("Hardcore")
4. Work relaxed, and never gain "success".

The level of "Work hard and gain success." is what every die-hard capitalist conservative republican believes. "If you put you mind to it, you can do whatever you want." Why should you have to work so hard to gain success? It seems to me that if you come up with a good idea, and you do it right, you should not have to work so hard. It seems to me that if you are working yourself to death, you might not only fail, but you dash your life on the rocks in the process. Now, if somebody works their entire life away, twelve hours a day, and they are finally successful, then that success is well deserved, and any kind of middle or lower class resentment is for the most part misplaced. What must be understood with this is that even though a person works hard, whether or not one becomes a success, as Malcolm Gladwell will tell you, geographic location and timing play a huge part. So even if you work hard and become successful, and you believe your reward well justified, much of your reward comes from chance occurrences. The upper class often uses this level to justify inaction of mobilization to generate welfare for the lower classes, because many upper class successful people see themselves as beating all the odds by sheer strength of will, because that is the most masturbatory self-serving way to see it. While they beat their chest in show of their own greatness, they take intuitive credit for things which are nothing more than good luck. I think the most important thing to understand at this level, as so many of those who live this life miss it, is that the more money you have to spend on making money, the more opportunity you will have to make money. How do you make a small fortune? Start with a large one.
This level is not considered a "Sell Out".

The level of "Work relaxed, and gain success." is actually the most desirable, aside from the social consequences. I ask the question "Why must I work "hard" to be successful?" There is no absolute that says if you do not work hard, you absolutely will not be successful. In fact, I would argue that the way statistics are, if you do not have a good idea, then you can throw your life away busting your ass, and still not be successful. If you have a good idea though, then the product sells itself, and it is not always a long road. It is better to find a short road, but this is the "Sell Out" level. This is the "Sell Out" level for disciplines that are well saturated, and there is not much wiggle room for easy discovery. I am talking about disciplines like music, art, writing, science, etcetera. In the time in which we live, there are people who seem to be monetarily successful without what is the ostensibly acceptable amount of suffering and work to attain their goal. Much of it is indoctrination of the first level, and the upper classes into the middle and lower classes causing resentment because people ought to work hard for their success. The genuine middle class emotion is envy of course, but it is expressed by labeling the successes from this level "Sell Outs", or "Posers". A sell out can also be one who becomes successful as a subversive, then, as they move to the upper class they moderate the initial hardcore subversiveness, for a more universal main stream appeal.
This is the "Sell Out" level.

The level of "Work hard and never gain success." can be seen a couple ways. This is the "hardcore" level. This is the level of the person who has the attitude of a first level hard worker, but they are never validated. It can be chance that keeps them back, or sheer numbers is the way I see it. This really is the bubble burst on the first level. If you could run the numbers you would see you have something like a 1 in 3 million chance of being wealthy in the United States. Now, we all have different goals, and as we grow older, it is only reasonable to drain a little of our childhood vanity out of our lofty sites, but those who are passionate and never gain the wisdom of truth about the reality behind the statistics essentially work themselves to death stuck in the first level, but trapped by the specter of bad circumstance. If you offered any one of these "hardcore" subversives, or believers whatever endgame they were looking for, they would take it. As a coping mechanism, they have to tell themselves that, "I do this because I like to do it, not because I care about success." This is all bullshit. Everybody knows that, but we all love to be around great people before they become validated, and as the majority middle and lower classes we love to claim them as our own. Do not forget middle and lower class brothers, they would sell us out in a second if given the chance, and in that sense they are just like us. I am not saying they would sell out their middle class attitudes and tendencies, because that is what drives them into the upper class, as a middle class gem.
This is the "Hardcore" level.

The level of "Work relaxed, and never gain "success"." is an important level. In this level we define success by an appealing means. We do move toward a goal, but we do it at a pace which is comfortable for ourselves. Unless you have monetary support, and extremely good work, I suggest you move toward this category as much as possible. The whole "You're one in a million." routine in the first level is a long shot. All of us would like to be in the second level with the trust fund babies, but the numbers game does not smile on many there. The hardcore level will leave you somewhat wanting on status. I am not saying absolutely. Sometimes small amounts of validation can be more intense that massive amounts. But, this fourth level, when you have such a slim chance of winning the numbers game, and toiling your life away just under the validation radar does not sound all that appealing, turn your gaze to Buddhism. Attachment is suffering. You can rid yourself of attachment, therefore you can rid yourself of suffering.
This level is not even in the game.

I am trapped somewhere between the fourth and the second levels. Relaxing is of paramount importance to me. I actually do work hard, but I do it when I like, not all OCD anymore.