boomers man
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I'm a millennial, but I'm kind of old enough to remember when the "don't leave anything to your kids" meme was actually being seriously discussed.
The argument was that if you leave money to your kids, it's just gonna spoil them and they'll become losers. This was definitely weaponized to make sure reasonably well-to-do boomers would never form any kind of dynastic power - but there is a kernel of truth to it.
Leaving wealth to the next generation, without turning them into loser trust-fund-babies, is HARD. It's one of, if not THE central concern of Old Money families. All of those weirdo elite private schools where they molest the kids and don't really teach them any useful skills - they're designed to instill in rich kids, if nothing else, that they MUST conserve the family fortune. And even so, it is STILL shockingly common for old money families to lose the family wealth and end up as weirdos with a weird backstory.
But just because it's hard doesn't mean it's impossible, and it doesn't mean it's not worth it.
The argument was that if you leave money to your kids, it's just gonna spoil them and they'll become losers. This was definitely weaponized to make sure reasonably well-to-do boomers would never form any kind of dynastic power - but there is a kernel of truth to it.
Leaving wealth to the next generation, without turning them into loser trust-fund-babies, is HARD. It's one of, if not THE central concern of Old Money families. All of those weirdo elite private schools where they molest the kids and don't really teach them any useful skills - they're designed to instill in rich kids, if nothing else, that they MUST conserve the family fortune. And even so, it is STILL shockingly common for old money families to lose the family wealth and end up as weirdos with a weird backstory.
But just because it's hard doesn't mean it's impossible, and it doesn't mean it's not worth it.
@cjd @sickburnbro I dunno, leaving the family farm, etc, seems reasonable and sustainable and was the norm for generations.
Leaving obscene liquid wealth to kids raised with a silver spoon in their mouths definitely risks total degeneration and loss of wealth.
Leaving obscene liquid wealth to kids raised with a silver spoon in their mouths definitely risks total degeneration and loss of wealth.
Farming is (somewhat ironically) one of the BEST ways to guarantee a decent future for your great great grandkids.
Farmers (typically) don't become super wealthy, but they're able to reliably stay off the street for dozens of generations.
Farmers (typically) don't become super wealthy, but they're able to reliably stay off the street for dozens of generations.
@cjd @WTFPurpleAlpaca farming has been horrendously difficult during several times in the US. Dust Bowl is a classic one, but dry spells, wet spells - anything that lasts multiple years made it crazily hard in the past.
Indeed, but, if all you know how to do is farm, you will tough it through bad years because that's what you know how to do. Also the land might be tied up in a family trust which prevents you from selling it, so you either farm it or you don't farm it, and if you want to eat, you farm it...
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@cjd @sickburnbro Indeed. A legitimate society takes care of its farmers during times of hardship, they are after all the bedrock from which all other things--if not spring--certainly rely on.
Fortunately farmers have transferable practical skills and tools so as long as the crisis isn't too severe and long lasting, they can usually manage a living. Ideally. Unless the government over them is taking pains to frustrate them.
Fortunately farmers have transferable practical skills and tools so as long as the crisis isn't too severe and long lasting, they can usually manage a living. Ideally. Unless the government over them is taking pains to frustrate them.