The Triple Package: Why Groups Rise and Fall in America

The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld"The Triple Package" presents a provocative thesis that when three distinct forces (the Triple Package) come together in a group's culture, they propel that group to disproportionate success. Thankfully, these forces or set of values/beliefs are accessible to anyone who choose to incorporate them into their lives. Yale Professors and best-selling authors, Chua and Rubenfeld provide the public with a riveting book that is sure to inspire a cultural debate. This controversial yet fascinating 304-page book includes the following eight chapters: 1. The Triple Package, 2. Who's Successful in America?, 3. The Superiority Complex, 4. Insecurity, 5. Impulse Control, 6. The Underside of the Triple Package, 7. IQ, Institutions, and Upward Mobility, and 8. America.Positives:1. A well written, well-referenced book. A page turner.2. A fascinating and potentially incendiary-producing topic in the capable hands of Professors Chua and Rubenfeld. A good use of world history and research to make provocative claims. In general, I found their observations to be fair and even-handed even when they leaned on their own personal cultural experiences.3. The book is very provocative and is not afraid to touch on very sensitive topics. Overall, I think the authors went out of their way to be as edgy as possible without crossing the line. "Throughout this book, we will never make a statement about any group's economic performance or predominant cultural attitudes unless it is backed up by solid evidence, whether empirical, historical, or sociological."4. A great job of defining, explaining and supporting arguments in favor of their thesis of the three elements of the Triple Package: 1. A Superiority Complex, 2. Insecurity. And 3. Impulse Control. Most importantly how these elements work together to instill drive and deliver on defense. "Superiority plus insecurity is a formula for drive. Superiority plus impulse control is a formula for hardship endurance. When the Triple Package brings all three elements together in a group's culture, members of that group become disproportionately willing and able to do or accept whatever it takes today in order to make it tomorrow."5. An interesting look at America's most successful groups as measured by conventional metrics such as income and academic accomplishments. "If there's one group in the U.S. today that's hitting it out of the park with conventional success, it's Mormons." Find out what the church holdings are...significant comes to mind. Enlightening sections on Cuban Americans, Nigerian Americans, Asian Americans and American Jews. "American Jews are disproportionately successful by pretty much any economic measure." The authors focused on a total of eight ethnic groups.6. Controversial conclusions. "The success of Nigerian Americans and certain other black immigrants - who face many of the same institutional obstacles and prejudices as African Americans - is significantly due to cultural forces"7. The book is full of surprises and fascinating tidbits. Find out who the most highly educated ethnic group in the United States is...I won't spoil it for you.8. Interesting observations on religious groups, particularly concerning how Mormonism ties into American exceptionalism and how it departs on key theological points from most Christian denominations. "In particular, Mormons reject the doctrine of original sin." Also a look at Protestants, and the Amish.9. Some quotes are memorable, "I don't consider myself an immigrant. I am an exile. I did not leave Cuba for economic reasons. I left Cuba because of Communism. I left because I had to."10. A mesmerizing discussion regarding superiority and inferiority as it relates to race. "African Americans in every stratum of American society, including the most successful, repeatedly testify to the internal burdens of being black in the United States and `the sheer force of will' required to succeed `while being condescended to (under the best of circumstances).'"11. The need to redeem parental sacrifice. Impulse control exemplified in Chinese American parenting. Excellent examples from different cultural groups.12. I really enjoyed learning about the sources of pride from some of the lesser-known groups. "The Lebanese, he writes, are `descendants of the ancient Phoenicians,' a Semitic people who, like the modern-day Lebanese, were famous for being commercially successful wherever they went."13. The importance of how to deal with failure. The book does a good job of discussing the factors that lead to success. "Now confirmed by numerous studies, the correlation Mischel discovered between impulse control and success is nothing short of jaw-dropping." There is also a fascinating new wrinkle on the famed marshmallow test.14. Eye-opening observations. "Success in America today comes more often to groups who resist today's dominant American culture".15. Understanding the price to pay for the Triple Package, the most glaring pathologies. "The Triple Package works by making people very good at attaining conventional success, so everything depends on how much you think conventional success is worth."16. Upward mobility in perspective. "Rising remains the rule in America, not the exception." Very good cognitive-inducing points though the authors do acknowledge that upward mobility is shrinking.17. The causes of success and nonsuccess. Many myths debunked including myths involving innate higher IQ among Chinese American immigrants as a reason for their disproportionate success. "If Asian students were truly genetically superior to other students, they would not be spending twice as much time on homework each week as their peers in order to outperform them." "Drive predicts accomplishment better than IQ, and the Triple Package generates drive."18. Interesting case studies on Appalachians, the Amish ("They aim not to show the world but to be separate from the world."), and of course Holocaust survivors. This one quote moved me, "Representing six million dead is a grave responsibility, and a terrible burden for a child to carry."19. A broad-brush portrait of the current Triple Package trajectory in America and how to reverse it. "America declared war on both insecurity and impulse control. By 2000, all that remained of the American Triple Package was the superiority complex - which, by itself, leads not to success, but to swagger, complacency, and entitlement."20. Justice Sotomayor's success puts a smile on my face. "Sotomayor's story illustrates just how extraordinary a persona has to be to overcome the odds and institutions she had stacked against her."21. Comprehensive notes.Negatives:1. Sometimes misrepresents the mainstream liberal thinking. Example, "Everyone is equal to everyone else". As a progressive thinker, that is not what "we" espouse. It's about equal opportunity not equal outcome.2. Notes were not linked up. A real shame.3. We are products of our genes and the environment that we grow up in. The focus of the book is on specific cultures but how does biology play into it?4. The authors did a very good job of stating their case that America remains an excellent country for upper mobility but did not discuss in any significant detail, the big elephant in the room, increasing inequality gap.5. Some comments come across as presumptuous, and they were doing so well...6. No formal bibliography.In summary, I really enjoyed what turned out to be an enlightening and provocative book. I am of the progressive persuasion but a lot of the arguments resonated with me. This is a book that hopefully inspires civil conversation on sensitive issues. In my view, the authors have gone out of their way to be edgy without being disrespectful. You don't have to agree with every conclusion to enjoy a book, you may not even agree with the tone but you would miss out dearly if you skip this book. Why give this book five stars when I clearly didn't agree with everything in it? Because I love books that enlighten, inform, provoke, inflame, and bring new ideas to the table. I highly recommend it!Further recommendations: "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change" by Stephen R. Covey, "Getting Things Done" by David Allen, "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" by Charles Duhigg, "The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It" by Kelly McGonigal Ph.D., "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" by Susan Cain, "The One Thing" by Gary Keller, "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman, "Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work" and "Switch" by Chip and Dan Heath, "Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't" by Jeffrey Pfeffer, "Outliers: The Story of SuccessRebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success" and "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell, "Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success" by Rick Newman, and "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us" by Daniel H. Pink.

Synopsis:"The Triple Package" is an attempt by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld to explain the economic success of certain ethnic groups. Their thesis is that the economic success of these groups can be adequately explained by three cultural traits (NOT genetic or racial characteristics). These three traits are a superiority complex, a sense of insecurity, and impulse control. The authors focus on the following successful groups: Indian, Iranian, Lebanese, Nigerian, Cuban, Chinese, Mormons, and Jews. They contrast these groups from African Americans, Hispanics, and the general American population.Claims of Racism:First, let me begin by stating that "The Triple Package" is NOT a racist book as portrayed by the media. Nor is it a "semi-racist" book as one reviewer put it. At no place in the book do the authors assert that certain racial or ethnic groups are intrinsically superior - although they do claim that successful ethnic groups may view themselves as superior or privileged in some way. Nor do the authors assert that certain racial or ethnic groups are intrinsically inferior to another group. In fact, the authors explicitly claim that key cultural features explain a group's economic success, and that such success is not the result of genetics or any inherent racial or ethnic characteristic. Thus, anyone who states that the authors are making racist claims - i.e. asserting the inherent racial superiority (or inferiority) of one group over another -- has simply not read the book or has severe difficulties with simple reading comprehension.Second, many of the negative reviewers seem to dismiss the empirical information the authors present. That is, it is an empirical fact that many immigrant groups tend to achieve high levels of economic success in America. This is clearly observable in American society. In many cases, success is achieved despite arriving in America with little money, with few or no connections, and even under oppressive conditions. The authors focus on a handful of groups -- Indian, Iranian, Lebanese, Nigerian, Cuban, Chinese, Mormons, and Jews. However, the authors could've also mentioned other ethnic groups, such as the German immigrants of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Japanese, or the South Koreans. In fact, many of the same facts have been expressed by Stanford economist, Thomas Sowell, and George Mason University professor, Walter Williams. Both Sowell and Williams are African American.Moreover, while the authors of "The Triple Package" are criticized for mentioning that Mexican Americans and African Americans are economically unsuccessful groups, their points were not intended as racist attacks. The authors could've easily mentioned the early Irish immigrants to make the same points. During the early 20th century, it was not uncommon to see help wanted signs stating, "No Irish Need Apply". In fact, many Irish business owners themselves preferred to hire non-Irish whites. It was said the Irish were prone to excessive drinking, fighting on the job, and general unreliability. These behaviors are all examples of poor impulse control. And it was not unusual for employers to prefer a "black man" to an Irish man, according to Sowell in his book, "The Economics and Politics of Race". Not surprisingly, such behaviors held back the Irish for a long time compared to their non-Irish counterparts -- the Germans and the English.Some criticisms of the book...1) Correlation is not Causation:The authors' thesis is really an argument based on correlation; that is, there are three cultural traits correlated with economic success. From this starting point, they jump to the conclusion that these traits are complete and sufficient explanations for the success of certain ethnic groups. However, correlation is not causation. Observing that three traits are correlated with success is not the same as claiming that they are sufficient explanations or causes for the success. The latter requires proof, and I didn't think the authors did a very good job of providing that proof. Ice cream sales and the incidence of drowning are positively correlated, but it would be wrong to conclude that ice cream consumption causes drowning. Rather, more people eat ice cream and more people swim during the summer months.2) Poor Argumentation:The authors are careful to state that the absence of these "success" traits is not the cause of poverty. Instead, they point the finger at other factors, such as discrimination and exploitation - African American slavery being the most salient example. But this seems like a planned, politically correct response to avoid offending certain ethnic groups. I don't think the authors actually believe their own statement. For if you accept their thesis, it's difficult to avoid the conclusion that an absence of these so-called "success" traits are the cause of economic poverty.Here's the problem. Other ethnic groups have also experienced discrimination and exploitation, but have found ways to rise to economic prominence. The Jews and the Chinese come immediately to mind. Have the authors forgotten that 6 million Jews were murdered during World War II? Do they not know that Jewish discrimination in Europe can be traced back to Medieval Times? Or that as many as 20,000 Chinese (by some estimates) were murdered in Malaysia in just a few days due to racial tensions and Malaysian animosity toward the Chinese? Nonetheless, the Jews and the Chinese have achieved phenomenal success wherever they settled. The authors would say that the three "success" traits are present in these groups, which enabled them to overcome discrimination and exploitation. But isn't this the same as saying that the absence of these traits in other groups are the cause for their poverty? After all, according to the authors, if the traits were present then these groups would not be poor.The authors also claim that all three "success" traits must be present. If just one of these traits is missing, then economic success may not be achievable. Interestingly, I couldn't help but notice that the authors didn't mention non-Chinese Asian groups, such as South Koreans, Filipinos, or Vietnamese. On what foundation would a superiority complex rest for these groups? For most of their history, they were dominated by other nations. There was no great civilization in their past that they can point to or admire, at least nothing comparable to the glory days of the ancient Persian or Chinese empires. And they make no claims to being a "chosen" people like the Jews. Nonetheless, these groups are very successful in American society. How do the authors account for this?3) Alternative Considerations:Common sense and experience might get you to accept that impulse control is good and that insecurity can motivate a person to excel (to prove oneself), but the authors do not seem to consider other more direct explanations for a group's success. For example, nearly all of these successful groups rose to economic prominence by one of two routes - higher education or self-employment. Perhaps it was the value these groups placed on education or the chosen path of entrepreneurship that explains their success. This is what economist Thomas Sowell claims in his book, "The Economics and Politics of Race." It's true that impulse control plays an important role when pursuing a higher education or trying to launch a business; however, it is less clear that a superiority complex or a sense of insecurity is a requirement for success.Perhaps these successful groups came to America with existing human capital, which they used to their advantage and imparted to their children. By human capital, I mean the collective set of individual attributes, personality traits, knowledge, skills, and competencies that produce economic value. This certainly seems to be the case with the Cuban Exiles versus the New Cuban immigrants. There is little doubt that people from different socioeconomic groups have different traits, knowledge, and skill sets (on the whole) -- in other words, human capital. The former had human capital of economic value, coming from the higher echelons of Cuban society. The latter lacked human capital, having come from poorer Cuban social classes. As a result is it really surprising that the former was successful in America, while the latter are not much better than other Hispanic groups? Can the authors really assert that they have narrowed down the entirety of such success to just three traits or factors?4) Poorly Structured References:The book makes a lot of claims and quotes from various sources, but there are no footnotes or easily traceable end notes (at least not in the e-book version). End notes do exist but it is not in a traditional format, thus, I found it more cumbersome to locate information. Moreover, many of their claims were taken from tertiary sources, rather than from original published articles. And in a few cases, I found the claims a bit exaggerated from what was stated in the original articles.5) Writing Style:As far as writing style, the book is a very easy read. It was relatively free of spelling errors and grammar mistakes, and there was no ambiguity in the content. Nothing made me question what the authors meant by a particular term, phrase, or sentence. However, I felt the book was intended for someone with no more than an 8th grade reading level. I realize that an 8th grade reading level will reach the widest audience (according to some studies); nonetheless, I felt this limitation made the writing style wearisome and irritating at times (at least for me).In summary, the book's thesis is provocative. The authors are bold to tackle this topic, given the predictable back lash and misrepresentation in the media. However, I think their argumentation leaves much to be desired. The book is okay, but there are far superior books that tackle this idea of culture and economic success. I would recommend reading Thomas Sowell's book, "The Economics and Politics of Race" and Theodore Dalrymple's "Life at the Bottom". These books are better written and more convincingly argued. And unlike Chua and Rubenfeld, these authors only make the general claim that culture is a significant contributing factor in a group's economic success. They do not try to assert that a specific number of traits or a particular set of traits is sufficient to explain it all.

O livro aponta 3 fatores na socialização de grupos etnico-culturais como explicação para seu desempenho econômico acima da média nos EUA: (1) um sentimento de inferioridade; (2) um sentimento de inferioridade; (3) ênfase no controle de impulsos.O complexo de inferioridade gera um sentimento de permanente insatisfação com situação econômico-social do indivíduo, fazendo com que ele almeje (drive) subir na escada social, ganhar mais, prosperar, como forma de superar esse sentimento. O complexo de superioridade (que existe paradoxalmente de forma concomitante ao de inferioridade) faz com que os membros de alguns grupos tenham uma certeza inconsciente e profunda de sua capacidade acima da média, o que estimula maiores ambições, tomada de risco e ousadia na execução de suas metas. Por fim, o controle de impulsos se relaciona com a conscienciosidade - principal traço de personalidade associado ao sucesso financeiro - e reforça o sentimento de superioridade.O livro é cheio de exemplos, bem ao estilo de não-ficcção americano, e é uma leitura fluida e agradável.

DANG! The secret is OUT! Now mediocrity can with some effort rise to a higher level! But, there is a silvery lining to that cynical dark cloud! Perhaps society as we know it, would generally improve unless the currently better suited improve in tandem, maintaining the interval (ceiling to floor interval!) as constant and the society as a whole improves... as a consequence...?

As promised, but not delivered, there is no evidence of original research and no provision of the methods and results of proper statistical techniques. First, this seems to be an extension of decades of research on national culture (cf. Hofstede, GLOBE) and more recently cultural intelligence (cf. the business cultural intelligence score (BCIQ)). Disappointingly, there is no tie-in to this abundant research. Second, no data is provided or a description of the studies (source, method, sample...), only a pick and choose inclusion of basic descriptive statistics to further the authors' thesis. This does not pass muster.However, it is well written and an easy read and may educate the general audience on the influence of culture in today's business environment. That is why you get one more star.

almost like a text, would recommend but it is better to take a course on adolescent development to get the full picture.

The book is well written and easy to read as well as their arguments are easy to follow. It would be interesting to read any counter arguments to their thesis.