The Might of Arthur Ashe

Fresh from the US Open Women’s final yesterday, the New York Times published an opinion piece titled, “The Power of Serena Williams”. The author of the article was half-right, which I suppose is better than totally wrong. Here’s what the author gets right:

Serena Williams is indeed a powerful player, both physically and mentally.

She has been a powerful influence in the sport, for younger girls, African American or otherwise, as well as tennis fans.

She has had to endure more obstacles as a woman and an African American, powerfully ploughing thru.

That’s where it stops. Some may ask, what the hell more is needed to be in awe of her power?

Normally not a lot, but the half of the story that’s missing is too large of an elephant in the room. Turn a blind eye to it or not, no one really cares. Williams will be fine, no martyr to see here folks.

During her peak, Williams was often consumed by a fragile ego, a tortured one many point out. The kind that “bad boys” like John McEnroe had. It wasn’t endearing to many back then either, I don’t care how many fans or victories MacEnroe had. The assumption that everyone agreed with McEnroe’s antics is plain and simple BS. The argument of depression, to the tune of millions of dollars in reward, is a convoluted defense that will never pass the test of time. As for the argument of discrimination, hold that thought for a minute.

The fact that McEnroe got away with it more, with less obstacles, does not mean he was liked, loved, or respected by everyone. Just like history can be harsh over what guys like Reagan or Biden said or did in the 60s or 70s, the bar stays the same here. Johnny Mac does not get a free pass.

But more important: overcoming obstacles IS the stuff that has made people great thru the ages. Serena fed on them, and it served her well. Very well. 

There were two huge ironies that took place yesterday at Arthur Ashe stadium, and those two elephants will not go quietly into the night here...

One: The stadium roared pro-Serena to the tune of deafening decibels.  Andreescu at one point had to cover her ears from the roar, it was a borderline frenzy. Not Serena’s fault, but the irony lies in how much Andreescu fed on being the underdog. It wasn’t Serena “Goliath” alone that “David” Andreescu was battling: it was Goliath and 20,000+ screaming fans. Blood-thirsty, like Roman Colosseum spectators who couldn’t wait for the favored gladiator to run a spear thru the heart of the lesser-known gladiator. That almost happened, by the way, as Goliath got her second wind. But David prevailed this time, with a great story to tell.

And two, the more subtle irony but running way deeper: this David and Goliath story took place at Arthur Ashe stadium. Ashe was a true American hero, a real target of racism amidst the American apartheid of the 1960s. The kind that would have destroyed the fragile ego of Serena Williams. A mere year ago, the spirit of Arthur Ashe looked down at Williams’ bratty meltdown, probably in a head-shaking, facepalm reaction. Because these words would never come from Serena Williams:

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.”

-Arthur Ashe

Give me the awe-inspiring power of an Arthur Ashe any day, over the diluted, crowd-frenzy kind from Serena Williams. The Coco Gauff’s of the future don’t need the Serena Williams kind of power: they should be told about the might of Arthur Ashe.

A New Hope For Capitalism: Unemploying Employment

"Now the onus is on employers to keep their best employees happy."

-Mark Cuban 

A good start Mr. Cuban. But why stop there? You left something crucial out: the mindset-terminology of “employer” and “employee” must die before we can move on to greater things. (Also “onus” sounds too much like “anus”, but I digress).

Politicians - the whores of status quo masters - play with “unemployment figures” like cats play with a mortally wounded mouse. And yet, there is a way to end their reign of their fear-based leadership: unemploy employment itself.

Bad enough that true unemployment lies somewhere north of 20%. Instead, “new claims” are used in an extrapolated method, dropping the expired claims as if they have all up and found a job. Just as it’s easy to find the “new claims” number, it would be easy to follow the expired social security number through the months, or years, until a company claims that SS number once again in its payroll. The obvious logical observation is that there is an incremental amount of claim expirations every month that are not going back into the employment pool. Rather, they are going off-radar. They are  entering the underworld of support by family, friends, gross underemployment, or worse: crime. But god forbid we count them as unemployed. The angry mob might turn on the status quo.

Employment must die. Not work itself, of course. Especially not the enlightened side of work. No, the dark side of work. The one we’ve been calling “employment” since slavery was no longer an option.

Mr. and Ms. “Employer”, you don’t have to be co-conspirators with political whores. If you think your business model depends on that status quo, then you’ve lost sight of your true business vision and mission. So in that case, yes: for a worthless moment in  time you will become a political whore yourself.

But to the majority of capitalist enterprises, be the entrepreneur you are and always have been. You’ve always had your eye on the customer, with laser focus. You’ve always preached the gospel of customer service. So why are you sending hapless “employees” to serve your customers??

Mr. and Ms. Employer, that’s not who you are and you know it: you were once a badass Innovator and Disruptor. Get back to what you do. Here’s the mother of all disruptions for you:

Don’t employ, be a collaborator.

Don’t wage, share results.

Don’t train, teach.

As for the other half of the equation - ”Employees”. You, and especially you, need to seriously reconsider your gaslighted mindset.

Stop calling yourself an “employee”.

Don’t work for time, work for results.

Expect more from yourself before you demand from your collaborators, colleagues, and customers.

If you find yourself being more negative and cynical of and at your work, figure it out. Or do something else. Your negativity is a cancer.

There are two types of workers: those who work for results and those who work for wages & benefits. 

The former are always going to be generally happier. 

The latter are a product of a cannibalistic contract. One mutually set for failure by the employer-employee Stockholm Syndrome.

By the way, Mr. Employer: if you get a hard-on from the words “you’re fired!” please consider getting neutered. Your cancer must die with you.

Honestly, I can’t blame those who retire from being an employee. I would retire too from that hell. But when you figure out how to stop being an employee you might just make retiring obsolete. You might just find yourself. There’s nothing more rewarding in life than results. Yes, that includes the results from being a good friend, parent, partner, mentor, volunteer, worker. Manager, director, chief, entrepreneur, shareholder. Or just a good fucking human being. 

My father taught me that money is a byproduct from all those things. He also taught me that retiring is for old sports jerseys and horses. With all due respect to my retired friends, I believe he was right. It is never about a retirement strategy: it’s about an exit one.

Happy Labor Day.