The Good Life

I was eleven years old. I was sitting on the floor in my bedroom, shoes off and headphones blaring. There was nowhere else I'd rather be than in my space, with my music. The deep bass piercing my eardrums was supplied by Jay-Z's Vol. 2, The Hard Knock Life, my favorite album at the time.


On track fourteen, Jigga and JD brag, "In the Ferrari and Jaguar switching four lanes, top down, screaming out money ain't a thing."1 Yes, I had the clean version, so my ears were shielded from the foul language, but not from all harm. There is no edited version that removes worldviews.


What I thought was just fun music was actually far more. When I hit play on my portable CD player, I was going to class. They weren't teaching me math and grammar, but they were teaching me how to view the world. They were lecturing me about what my aspirations should be, and what is most important in the world. And unknowingly, I was a star pupil. I ate it up and believed the lie that Ferraris and Jaguars are what life is largely about. If I wanted the good life, I needed the money, the cars, and the girls.


Rappers weren't my only teachers though. I heard lessons every day from my parents, my schoolteachers, my friends, and my favorite TV shows. Every day I was bombarded with messages and images that shaped my perspective on life. And I'm not alone. Every single one of us has an idea about what "the good life" is, and we've learned it from somewhere. In the same way our region dictates the accent we speak with, our environments and influences shape our ideas about life.


Every time you hear an idea or observe a behavior, you're being presented with a message. And as we take those messages in, we can either reject or accept them (though we often do this subconsciously). We shouldn't be asking whether or not we're being taught; there's no question about that. We should be asking whether or not we're being taught well...We need a better teacher.


Lyrics rom"Robot"


Hey I was born "less than human," I know it sounds crazy


But I was really born a robot as a baby


No real life in me, I just played my role


No self-control, I just did what I was told


I got my first order, I was just a day old


But I didn't have a chance 'cause my heart was way cold


My heart took the orders, it couldn't break the mold


I was sold under bondage and I couldn't take control


So I was just chillin' in my robot clothes


With my robot friends and my robot flow


Livin' robot ways 'cause that's all I know


Till I heard I could be freed from my robot soul.