Excellent observation.
You just described my brother-in-law and his family.
And half of my own.
The last time my sister's daughter (48 years old!) lowered her lofty, cosmopolitan, leftist standards to talk to her crazy, right-wing, NRA uncle (me), she wanted money to "start a home-based business" (out of the blue of course - I hadn't heard from her in years).
Turned out (after a lot of prying) she and her boyfriend really wanted to grow "medical marijuana" in her home (that my sister bought, and would lose if they got caught) and they needed money for seeds and growing supplies. I disrespectfully declined.
And she's the pick of the litter. She didn't take too kindly to my response - thinks I'm intolerant. Now my sister thinks so too. Haven't heard from the niece since, the sister only if/when I call.
I think it's all funny stuff that the best screenwriters in Hollywood couldn't gin up. They, however, are livid, because I said "no" and squashed her dreams of financial success (well - to be fair, I suppose I did kind of mock it as well).
Funny thing was that if she'd had a legit business and I was reasonably confident of at least some ROI, and knew she wouldn't have just run it into straight the ground and left me hanging, I probably would have loaned her the money. Of course she's probably figured out how to get "Stimulus" funding for it by now.
Family..... whaddda ya gonna do???