Nice insight into interplay of insecurity and superiority complexes, and how the spread of Ayn Rand’s radical egoism has driven the decline of impulse control in contemporary American culture.

On the other hand, the book is rife with misinformation on Mormons in particular (citing Krakauer as your source for objective info on Mormon groups??). It’s clear the authors skimmed 3-4 pop culture books on mormons so they could jump on the “mormon moment” bandwagon of the early 2010s to sell a few thousand more copies.

Greatest quote: “...equality isn’t fair to African Americans. Superiority is the one narrative that America has relentlessly denied to or ground out of its black population, not only in the old era of slavery and Jim Crow, but equally in the new era of equality, when everyone must kowtow to the idea that there’s no difference between different racial groups...
...It’s one thing for a group with a longstanding superiority complex to pledge allegiance to the idea of universal equality... It’s quite another thing for a group with a long history of inferiority narratives behind it to be asked to pledge allegiance to the same ideal.”

And:

“The only justifiable national superiority complex is one true to America’s constitutional ideals of equality and openness. America remains today the country most open to the talents and dreams of all. That is a superiority worth aspiring to—a superiority that includes rather than excludes, and at its best restrains rather than fosters imperialism.” ( )

Despite the articles stirring controversy about this book ("Tiger Mom and husband are racists and say why their groups are better! WARBLEGARBLE"), I found its main thesis straightforward and applicable to any cultural or subcultural group. The authors also stress that these three traits are keys for *economic* success, so if goal is different, then the Triple Package won't be a complete fit.

The three traits are 1) a superiority complex (that a particular group or identity is 'chosen' or 'better' for some reason, be it religious ideology or depth of civilization through time), 2) a sense of inferiority (which grinds against 1, causing the group or individual to want to do better. Reasons for this feeling are given as scorn, fear, and family though there's certainly others), and 3) impulse control (yep, the famous marshmallow experiment is mentioned. The Amish are mentioned as a group that has this part under lock, but lacks the first two because their culture's goal is to be humble [though you can have prideful humility :P]).

Surprisingly short read- within one day during highway portions of a road trip (only possible as the passenger). The extensive end-notes show they pulled research from everywhere, so this feels like a pop-sci meta-analysis. ( )

Insightful, yet controversial. Left me eager-to-agree and suspicious at the same time. ( )

Insightful, yet controversial. Left me eager-to-agree and suspicious at the same time. ( )

“Certain groups do much better in America than others – as measured by income, occupational status, test scores, and so on,” Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld state bluntly in the introduction to The Triple Package. Why is that? And can we even discuss why without being a bunch of racist, anti-Semitic, eugenics-loving jerks?

I hope so. I think Chua and Rubenfeld do. I don’t know if their conclusions are scientifically sound – this isn’t my field – but I don’t think their book is offensive. It’s a fast, engaging read that raises some interesting ideas and leaves the reader with a lot to think about.

I think it’s safe to say that some reviewers of Triple Package were pre-affronted. “Amy Chua has come out with another book whose basic message is the same: you suck and I am better,” says Khanh Ho at HuffPost. I read Tiger Mom, and I don’t think that’s what it said. Chua obviously isn’t suffering from any lack of self-esteem, but she pokes fun at herself frequently, and quotes her daughters making hilarious remarks at her own expense.

(How sad is it to be Jed Rubenfeld, by the way? Okay, not terribly. He’s married to a beautiful, intelligent, wealthy woman, and isn’t doing too badly himself in the looks, brains, and cash department. But let’s face it: The Triple Package is being read and reviewed as an Amy Chua title. If she’d written it alone, it would still be a bestseller. If he’d written it alone – who knows.)

Anyway. Speaking of being predisposed to despise: In her review of Triple Package, Daria Roithmayr at Slate describes Tiger Mom as “a memoir in which [Chua] extolled the virtues of harsh disciplinary ‘Chinese’ parenting.” Again, not exactly. Chua probably wouldn’t have felt the urge to write about her parenting experiences if her younger daughter hadn’t fought “Chinese parenting” to the point of making Chua question her own ideas. And “harsh” is a harsh word to use about someone who in her own book makes it clear she’s all bark.

Nevertheless, when these reviewers are done rhymes-with-itching about Amy Chua, they do point out something I noticed in her first book, which is a certain obliviousness to money. Triple Package definitely discusses how well groups like Mormons, Chinese-Americans, Cuban immigrants, Nigerian immigrants, and others are doing in America; but Chua and Rubenfeld don’t point out how much cash in hand a lot of members of the groups in question arrived with in the first place. If the reviewers I mention have their facts straight, this is a critical omission.

I happen to think that Triple Package is an interesting work regardless. The anecdotes from people who’ve been loaded down with a simultaneous superiority/inferiority complex are fascinating.

My main issue with the book is this: The authors rarely question the idea that the sort of educational and material success they’re describing is worth what it takes to get. Chapter 6, “The Underside of the Triple Package,” is the shortest in the book. In spite of its title, it’s still a pretty loud cheerleader for the concept of working your butt off to get the highest test scores so you can go to the best college and get the highest-paying job – and your reward is to push your child to do exactly the same thing all over again.

Can we really look at the current state of the economy in America, and then look at how it got to be this bad, and then accept that premise without question?

Chua and Rubenfeld discuss at the end of their book how everyone can make a triple package out of whatever they happen to have lying around the house. (I may be paraphrasing slightly.) They never ask if we should want to. If part of the price of success is agreeing with the idea that you and your group are superior to all others, is it right to encourage a cultivation of that sense of superiority? Given how much racism and sexism we’re still fighting, shouldn’t we be trying to make a new path to success – and maybe redefining success?
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