Avoid Idealists

Abstract
This essay discusses idealism in the book How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia. It is developed in the fact that idealism only gets in the way of making money and that everyone should avoid ideals and idealists. Further, the essay gives vivid examples from the story told by the author in Chapter four; “Avoid Idealists.” It highlights the dangers of ideals and idealism in the life of the protagonist and his family. His protagonist remains in an abstract world as he works for an idealistic organization. The father is also held captive by the ideal he holds that for a man to prosper: he must have an advanced in education and also be a part of rampant nepotism. The essay relays an important lesson activated by the death of the protagonist’s mother. The protagonist resolves to change which means that Idealism can be kicked out, but his father is sucked in too deep in ideals that he cannot come out.
Ideals are far-fetched. They do not amount to anything substantial as they involve living in an abstract world where no reality exists. Idealism promotes naivety, impracticality and keeps people out of touch with the world that surrounds them. They tend to believe that they have the power to change the world and mold it according to their expectations and beliefs. However, ideals are not the life principles you should follow. In chapter four of the book How to get filthy rich in Rising Asia, Mohsin Hamid writes against idealism. In the light of the book, this essay argues that idealism only gets in the way of making money and that you should avoid ideals and idealists.

The opening of the chapter particularly summarizes the dangers of ideals. Hamid states that ideals are anti-self since they convert people to weaklings. In fact, he says that it transcends humans to puny, which means it makes people almost helpless. He adds that there are many agents propagating ideals including the loved self-help books. The books may appear to beat good messages to the people, but they are aimed at spreading idealism among the people hence weakening the society. They enrich the writers who get more money as more copies of the books self but direct the readers to a path of self-destruction. Thus, from the onset of the chapter, Hamid cautions the readers, who majorly comprise of people with dreams to become filthy rich.
Hamid argues that ideals inhibit the act of making money, “So you’d do well to stay away, particularly if getting filthy rich tops your list of priorities” (Hamid 57). Good investment decisions are made only with a formulated plan. Plans require that one assesses the situation, determines its strengths and opportunities to capitalize on them, and subsequently, eliminate the threats and weaknesses. However, ideals drive people from reality. It means that idealistic individuals cannot make appropriate plans because whatever they do is in an abstract nature since they have not accepted how the world is in reality. Acceptance of reality enables one to look into prospective ways of changing the current situation. Sadly, the idealists cannot accept the reality and live in wishful thinking. The ideals they hold make them unable to assess good investment opportunities. Consequently, due to lack of investments and realization of what they should do to get money, idealists will most likely remain broke all their lives. In the book, both the main character and his father are idealists, which is the reason they depend on handouts for their survival.
Moreover, interaction with ideals is as dangerous as being an idealist yourself. Idealists have a negative notion towards life. They are pessimistic of the current situations and will always look frustrated when they realize they are unable to make the changes they naively thought they could make. When people surround themselves with idealists, they then cover themselves up with pessimism. It is, therefore, prudent to ensure that one evades the pessimists as they are the inhibitors to riches. Just as the saying goes, if you hang around five millionaires, you will be the sixth. Similarly, if you hang around five idealists, then you will be the sixth idealist. Hamid feels that since everyone interested in reading his book prioritizes making money, then hanging around idealists will not help in the quest, “Just as self-help books spouting idealism are best avoided, people so doing should be given wide berths too (Hamid 57). In fact, he terms any book advocating for ideals a sham as it builds societal weaklings and is only aimed at helping the authors through increased sale of copies.
The chapter gives numerous examples as to why ideals prevent money making. The protagonist’s father is an idealist. He envisions a situation where everyone needs advanced and rampant education to thrive in the society, “He understood that his employers benefitted from two things he lacked, advanced schooling and rampant nepotism” (Hamid 57). The author points out that the father was a burly man who would have gotten anything he wanted including money from his employers, who were no different from him as they thrived in banditry. However, he worked for them faithfully without making any significant advancement in his life. In this situation, he thinks that only two ideals can make him rich, advanced schooling and nepotism. He does not open up his mind to the prospects that he could be the first in the line to develop the rampant nepotism just like his employers, “…he would have beaten, bound and relieved off their possessions in a few quick minutes” (Hamid 59). He, however, chooses to stick to his ideals which cost him dearly through his wife’s death. Had he discarded his ideals, he would have already made enough money to give his wife a timely treatment for her thyroid cancer. However, his idealism has made him poor, and he only depends on his matriarchal employer to pity him and pay for his wife’s treatments. Here, we see that the ideals not only denies his father money but also subjects him and his wife to a pitiful situation.
The narrator also emphasizes that idealists should be avoided. He adds that ideals weaken individuals, which is seen in the protagonist in the 4th chapter. The character learns idealism from his father. He already knows the ideals that his father holds: advancement in education and nepotism as the keys to riches. By hanging around his father, he learns these ideals and uses them later on in his life. He knows that he is not strong in education, but has to study hard since his father expects a lot from him. “Your father was adamant that you complete secondary school, even though you struggled to wake up in the mornings after nights spent selling DVDs” (Hamid 59). Moreover, he has learned that education is the only way to future success. He also knows that his prominence is not guaranteed because he does not associate with his kin: a prerequisite to success. He pities himself as he only has a bicycle while his classmates use their cars to commute to school (Hamid 60). These learned ideals influence him greatly in life to the extent that he is not motivated to look for money and better his life. Nevertheless, since the protagonist cannot change the relationship with his father, he can prevent the idealism getting to his head.
The protagonist also interacts with other idealists when he joins the organization at the University. The organization’s agenda is to iron out everything that seems wayward in the University. For instance, the main character in the chapter is mandated to keep his eyes and ears wide open to notice anything suspicious going on in the premises. He is expected to report everything that goes on to his hostel’s leader, and he does so by reporting two incidences of students that are smoking hash in the compound. Through the organization, he learns the ideals that getting just a little amount of money for sustenance and food to eat is enough for existence (Hamid 61). Therefore, he does not care to venture in money making business and just like his father; it costs him greatly. He learns that ideals are a form of naivety and the world cannot be changed by idealists. The organization, which he trusts to solve all his problems, cannot do anything to save his mother’s life. Thus, his interaction with idealists makes him one and consequently, eliminates his zeal to make money.
The chapter is used as a learning experience for the main character. Therefore, the author ends the book in such a way that being an idealist is not the end of the world, as one can transform and conform to reality. The protagonist learns that their ideals are impediments through the death of his mother. He harbored thoughts that he would make the world right but only realizes the shortcomings of the organization when it cannot make his mother well again, “You should pray. It’s out of your hands now” (Hamid 70). The organization had locked his view on the real life and made him live in an abstract world where everything appeared normal. However, the incident opens up his eyes and he resorts to changing his idealistic ways and instead used his capabilities to transform what surrounds him. The resolve is evidenced by his moving out of the hostel to stay with his father, the cold attitude towards the organization, and the decision to shave off his trademark beard. However, his father continues his idealistic life. He believes that all harm has been done as he has lost his wife and the productive life of his years. He is a slave to ideals and therefore resigns himself to fate. It is a lesson for the readers that one who stays in idealism too long becomes its slave and might never get out of it.
The dangers of idealism are also seen in other aspects of the protagonist life including his childhood. Earlier on, at an unspecified time, he had a relationship with a pretty girl that has not become successful. However, his idealism contributes to his failure and irrelevance in the girl’s eyes. The main characters recollection of the time spent with the girl shows that they were close. He even remembers the girl giving him her cell phone number. However, at some point, the girl elopes with a man who later leaves her. The significance of this memory is to show that the character also had a chance to become great like the young girl. However, his involvement with the organization led to his idealism and subsequent irrelevance to those around him including the girl. The bears, for instance, a symbol of the organization’s idealism contributed to the change of his appearance, possibly making him unrecognizable to the pretty girl when he waves her at the traffic lights stop.
Ultimately, the life of the main character proves Hamid’s word at the beginning of the chapter right. It disillusions the main character in the story to the extent that he does not explore his full potentials. At one point, Hamid states that the author was a bright student such that he was the only one in the school that made it to the university, “…for non from your school gained entry here save you” (Hamid 60). Nevertheless, he wastes the opportunity to become a great person when he joins the idealist group. He gets out of touch with the goals that brought him to the University. In fact, he becomes weak and helpless as stated in the introduction of the chapter. He does not know how to harness funds to ensure that his mother gets the necessary treatment. It makes him hopeless and subsequently points him to the right direction as he realizes that the organization will only lead him to a path of destruction. Moreover, he becomes remorseful when his childhood girlfriend cannot recognize him. Further, the pretty girl acts as a reality check. The boy wonders why his life is stagnant yet that of his former girlfriend has progressed tremendously. Consequently, he comes to his senses following the incident with the girl at the traffic lights, his mothers’ death and resolves to change his idealistic ways to increase his prospect of success.
The chapter manages to pass the message of the importance of avoiding ideals and idealists in order to grow filthy rich. The story in the chapter provides the numerous examples of ideals held by the characters. For instance, the father holds the ideal that only education and nepotism can help anyone to succeed in the society. Moreover, the protagonist hold the ideal that participating in the organizations affair is the only way to survive in campus. Further, the protagonist shows how interaction with idealists can cause one to lose the direction in life and eventually, the opportunity of making money and becoming filthy rich. Through the example in the book, Hamid shows that ideals limit their holders. Idealist cannot have the money required to iron out issues in their lives. Notably, when the protagonist’s mother has cancer, both her husband and son cannot do anything about it since they do not have the required money to cater for her treatment. Hamid indirectly communicates that if the protagonist and his father were not idealists, they would have made enough money to ensure she was treated effectively.
Conclusively, ideals are an impediment to making money, and all people should avoid it. Chapter four in How to get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia disseminates important lessons on the dangers of ideals. In the story, ideals make the life of the protagonist’s father and his family miserable and eventually leads to the death of his mother. Moreover, it drives the main character into an organization that diminishes his productivity and money making ability. While the son can get away from the prison created by ideals, his father is already in too deep and has lost too much to care about discarding his ideals (Hamid 73). It shows that idealism is infectious and whoever hangs around idealists becomes just like them and ends up poor since he cannot make money.