Have you ever ever been so offended you needed to burn somebody’s home down? If that’s the case, you’ll relate to the Netflix sequence “Beef”.

Oh, and in case you haven’t seen the present but, SPOILER ALERT. You’ve been warned.

Anyway, the present follows the story of two characters: Danny Cho, a struggling contractor, and wealthy bitch Amy Lau who’s about to promote her profitable plant enterprise for 10 million. They get right into a highway rage incident and attempt to dole out revenge on one another, competing to see who can damage the opposite extra till each their lives blow up.

I believed this was going to be senseless leisure just like the Tiger King feud between Carole Baskin and Joe Unique, nevertheless it ended up being a deep, social commentary about life and unexpectedly made me consider the way it pertains to FIRE.

At one level, Danny asks Amy, who appears to “have all of it” if she’s joyful and does he should get to the place she is to be at peace.

And her response is the defining theme of the present (and in my view, of life usually):

“Nothing lasts, all the pieces fades, we’re only a snake consuming its personal tail.”

Regardless of turning into a millionaire, Amy sees that her wealth and success nonetheless pales compared to somebody even richer, Jordan, a tech billionaire who buys her enterprise.  Jordan is so wealthy she owns a set of uncommon crowns in her McMansion, only for the exclusivity, and but, throughout one conversion they’ve, echos precisely what Amy tells Danny: “all the pieces fades.”

That is the lure of the hedonic treadmill. It doesn’t matter how a lot wealth and success you have got, the Sensation Ultimately Fades, and also you’re left empty till you chase the subsequent excessive to fill your self again up. It’s a vicious cycle.

Rising up in North American society, we’re taught that Happiness might be obtained via exterior validation. As soon as I get that promotion, I’ll be joyful. As soon as I drive a Tesla, I’ll be joyful. As soon as I purchase the McMansion, I’ll lastly have “made it” and be joyful. However in actuality, it’s a short-lived excessive. The sensation ultimately fades and also you inevitably have to chase the subsequent excessive. 

Japanese philosophy teaches us that happiness comes from inside. A greater path to happiness is to just accept your self and understand you might be sufficient. Simpler stated than accomplished, however the two characters in Beef discover a means to do that on the finish of the movie (I don’t wish to spoil it for you, so I’ll solely say that it jogged my memory of an expertise I had in Amsterdam).

I spotted this pertains to FIRE as a result of turning into financially impartial didn’t magically resolve all my issues. I didn’t mechanically get inner validation. I used to be nonetheless chasing the excessive of ebook offers, TV choices, talking gigs, and Alexa rankings. I jumped from one treadmill of exterior self-worth to a different, believing I wanted to show myself yet again though I used to be alleged to be retired. It wasn’t till the pandemic blew all that away that I spotted what I actually wanted to do was decelerate, reside within the second, and spend time with the individuals I like. Not being compelled to earn cash or have a job made me understand the futility of chasing wealth and standing. It’s fleeting and in case you base your happiness on it, no quantity ever be sufficient. You’ll all the time need extra as quickly as the sensation fades.

A second theme that basically caught out to me and once more made me consider monetary independence in Beef is how the dearth of security and safety results in uncontrolled anger. Whenever you really feel threatened, your lizard mind kicks in and you’re feeling the necessity to defend your self. When all the pieces looks like a menace, anger is a safety mechanism.

It’s comprehensible that the male lead in Beef, Danny, is continually offended and harassed as a result of he’s strapped for money, his enterprise is struggling, and he has to help his dad and mom and unemployed brother. However his arch nemesis, Amy, who’s within the precise reverse scenario, with a profitable enterprise price $10 million, a flowery home, and a loving household is simply as offended. She’s constructed up this façade of the right life, however in actuality, her marriage is falling aside and he or she’s mentally falling other than the unrelenting stress of operating a multi-million greenback enterprise.

They each really feel unsafe and in consequence lash out at one another, utilizing anger as safety.

Rising up, I additionally felt a variety of anger, resentment, and worry. Poverty and political instability made my dad and mom care about survival and little else. This childhood insecurity and anger, drove me to prioritize cash and see it as safety.

I didn’t really feel like I may cease and really feel secure till I had sufficient. And the peace of thoughts you get from having “sufficient” is a sense like no different. I by no means bought that feeling from a job, the federal government, or my dad and mom. There is no such thing as a such factor as good job safety, I can’t depend on the federal government to avoid wasting me, and my dad and mom aren’t privileged sufficient to help me. It wasn’t till I felt financially safe that I may lastly let go of my anger and be happy and joyful. I now not really feel like there have been threats lurking in each nook and that I used to be one job loss away from homelessness.

So, whereas turning into financially impartial gained’t resolve all your life’s issues, Beef has taught me that FIRE’s best profit is security and safety, adopted carefully by providing you with the time and house to construct self-acceptance and develop inner happiness. I imply, you would use that point and house to chase after one other hedonic treadmill of success, however as somebody who did that for a few years, on the finish of the day you understand, simply as Amy Lau did, that “nothing lasts, all the pieces fades.”

What do you assume? Have you ever seen Beef? Do you assume chasing success and standing will result in happiness?

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