It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp

It’s not easy to own more stuff than everyone else and be moral. The temptation to think oneself smarter, even better than those deemed less fortunate has to be one of the most attractive. I do not write this as one with much experience with such a temptation, but I base my statements based on things that Jesus asserted.

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:23-24)

The kingdom of heaven does not refer to an afterlife. Rather, it is the community of humans who love. This community is not enchanted with the rich and powerful. While their compassion extends to all, it is focused on the needy, even if it likely includes themselves.

Hustle and Flow’s Oscar-winning hit, “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp” is a complaint by someone on top defending their opulence. By this measure, it must be extremely hard to be a rocket-building billionaire, or at least they want us to think they were savvy enough and worked hard enough to get where they are when the truth is that they are exploiting other people. They want to distract from the exploits that are gained, ultimately, from folks who support them.

They hope you will excuse the damage they do because it’s “not easy” being them, even though they benefit from generations, even centuries of victimizing people who didn’t get the breaks, nor were born into domination.