All About The Benjamins?
Benjamins at the bottom?
Psychologist Abraham Maslow developed the idea of a hierarchy of needs, that resonates powerfully as we seek to understand ourselves, even as its scientific validity is challenged. Having the mental space to reflect on one’s values and priorities is a privilege many cannot afford. So I’m mindful of contradicting Biggie and Puffy when I suggest money is not everything.
I was reminded of this question of priorities and values while reading Competing with Idiots, Nick Davis’ compelling biography of his whip-smart relatives Herman and Joe Mankiewicz. Davis, who, like his ancesestors, is in the film business describes the many challenges Herman, Joe’s older brother, faced in his relationship with his father Franz, a German Jewish immigrant who expected excellence in everything his son attempted. A paper graded 97 wasn’t good; it was three points short.
A brilliant writer, Herman graduated Columbia, and began work as a theatre critic for various New York newspapers in the 1920s. But it was in Hollywood, where he told a colleague there was little writing talent, that Herman enjoyed unheard of success as a writer and producer, as did his younger brother Joe. Herman grew wealthy, although addictions to booze and gambling meant he kept little of his money. Like the newspaper magnate whose life Herman described in Citizen Kane, financial success never gained him what he really wanted: his father Franz’s approval.
Davis writes:
For Franz, the issue of money had been, as it was for many immigrants in turn-of-the-century New York, fairly simple: you needed it to eat and put a roof over your head. But that was about as far as it went. Franz had come to America because he thought it might be easier to earn more money and a better living given his talents and gifts. The idea of altering his behavior to seek more money would have been as absurd to Franz as the idea that his grandchildren would someday watch men walking on the Moon on a screen in their living room. Money didn't define you, it didn’t make you who you were; it was just a necessity. … What mattered was ‘what you were on the inside,’ said Herman’s sister Erna. [emphasis added]
Loosening zoning laws in cities like New York and San Francisco could cut the cost of living; education choice programs could permit parents who can’t afford $1,000,000 mortgages to access better schools than the ones their district offers them. But those are not decisions an individual school makes. But any building leader could commit to character education, to discussing the definition of “the good life” with students right now; it might lead our children to see themselves differently, and perhaps to a more well-adjusted society.
