Aside from the Third Generation curse, where they would rather live a life of luxury than work hard, is there anything that might stop this if it could be controlled?
I don’t think so.
You’d have to really wrap your head around the vast numbers involved.
Investment won’t do it.
Invention would.
Each generation has a more lucrative set of careers than the previous (fast food then retail then tradesmen then engineers then doctors/lawyers, etc.) They save and invest savings conservatively. Over time they can purchase real estate or become major stockholders in particular companies. Slow and steady.
This way the wealth accumulates rather than being constantly divided and redivided.
I remember reading a study on families in England and France from the 11th century. They found that for most, like 90%, social mobility didn’t happen.
The Norman knights and gentry were rich and so are their descendants.
The serfs descendents are lower class or the poor today.
Bill Gates father was a millionaire.
I don’t think it’s genetics but the social group.
Take American ghettos. You put a white or Asian person there and the odds are they are poor criminals. Take a ghetto kid, black, and he is adopted into a Korean family in a richer part of town. That kid will be well to do.
Culture breeds success, including family culture
Nobody owns the world except God.
Joseph Smith? He and his descendants own a hotel chain already.
John D. Rockefeller did it.
There are very few like him. Edison, Ford.
True giants who were extraordinary.
The top tier is an association of old trillionaire families which gatekeep trade, energy and finance globally. Above all that they gatekeep certain information.
They own the world and you are in their world. If you become a multi-billionaire you are still in their world and that will be explained to you when the time comes.
A ‘Elon Musk’ is either controlled or seeking martyrdom.
Making money is only half of it. Not being brainwashed into the “mandatory consumerism” and keeping what you made is just as important.
I personally know people who had nothing growing up but their education and determination who are now millionaires.
I absolutely can be done.
Right industry, right time, right attitude, right work ethic and the ability to politically maneuver through the corporate hierarchy and anything is possible.
This thread is a great example of our society. So far only two people brought God into the discussion.
No matter what you try or how hard you try, you will not succeed if your plans are outside of God’s will. And so few even consider that fact. We are not a Christian society any more, we only hold some artifacts from one.
Seeking to better understand this parable I liked an article by Jon Bloom Modal, Staff writer, desiringGod.org.
Summery of what I learned is following:
To Jesus’s original hearers, a talent meant a very large unit of monetary value. People whose net worth equaled a talent were very well off. People whose net worth equaled numerous talents were rich. But this parable is not really about stewarding money. It is about stewarding the gifts and abilities God entrusts to us. This is why the English word “talents” doesn’t mean money, but gifts and abilities. When we say someone is talented, we don’t mean they’re rich; we mean they’re gifted.
We must not undervalue what we have been given. Some are given more, some are given less, but all are given much. And Jesus tells us everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more (Luke 12:48).
God himself supplies us with everything we need, both our talents and our strength to manage them — both our abilities and our capabilities. Realizing this frees us from comparing ourselves with others. We can be free from envying servants who are more talented and/or have greater capacities than we do. And we can be free from judging servants who are less talented and/or have lesser capacities than we do. God is the talent and power-giver, and he holds each of us accountable only for the grace given to us.”
So back to the thread’s question… what does “work to own the world” mean to a Christian? If our chief end is to “glorify God, and to fully enjoy Him forever”, then we would use the talents God has given us in way’s which Glorify and please Him; eventually OWN THE WORLD as our reward in Heaven through faith in Christ Jesus.
There is an obvious shortcut. Becoming a sleazy politician willing to lie, cheat, steal at the drop of a hat while selling your “services” to anyone willing to pay your price. There are numerous examples available to learn how it’s done and the best thing is no morals or Soul are necessary.
Perhaps they could start with saving a penny and then doubling everyday for 30 days. This would give them a buy-in stake.
I hope you made a donation to FR for the dumb-a*& vanity.
Well, you may get the discussion, but curiosity can never be satisfied, for the only thing you will get are conjectures that will run the gamut of answers from which to choose from.
But observation says not likely, as the wealth is usually only garnered by one person, which the relatives usually squander at some point down the lineage. However, from a different observation there is the Rothschild family. Their wealth seems to be perpetual, at least so far. But I think the longevity of the wealth line in a family, comes more from what the original creator of wealth invested in, more than anything else.
My grandfather dug graves.
My father put himself through college and became a successful engineer.
My siblings and I are all successful; engineer, CPA, a Vice President, a Director, and professional singer.
My nieces include an engineer, a doctor, and one is finishing her masters in Social Work.
My oldest is finishing his Bachelor’s, my middle child just started college, and my youngest (still in high school) landed an internship at an IT company in Dallas and will be heading off to college for computer design.
What do all of them have in common? Work ethic. A desire to reach a higher level than the generation before. A sense of honor, pride in the family name, and doing the right thing.
We learned that from our grandfather.
Values are destiny.
But most Joe's have no clue.