Long, long ago, I used to go out
with a girl who was an authentic Rockefeller. Her great-grandfather
was John D. Rockefeller. She had no romantic interest in me, nor I
in her, but we hung out.
Aside from this woman, I do not know anyone of my generation who is not better off than his great grandparents. Most of the people I know who are millionaires and billionaires (to use Mr. Obama's favorite phrase) had ancestors who were just working stiffs or farmers or salesmen. Even among the upper middle class, their ancestors rarely -- never -- were as well off as they were.
Why? Why are we who are now in our sixties, seventies, and eighties so much better off than our forebears?
I humbly offer a few reasons:
1.) We tend to have more education. That means we have a more sophisticated, more powerful machinery inside our skulls, and thus more human capital hitched onto us. It is the same as if we were farmers and owned a powerful tractor instead of a mule.
2.) The society in general has more sophisticated machinery available to all of us, whether in factory, office, shop, or bureaucracy we have machines that allow us to produce more widgets per unit of our time. These would range from immense excavating tools to i-Pads.
Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2012/09/26/america-unglued
Aside from this woman, I do not know anyone of my generation who is not better off than his great grandparents. Most of the people I know who are millionaires and billionaires (to use Mr. Obama's favorite phrase) had ancestors who were just working stiffs or farmers or salesmen. Even among the upper middle class, their ancestors rarely -- never -- were as well off as they were.
Why? Why are we who are now in our sixties, seventies, and eighties so much better off than our forebears?
I humbly offer a few reasons:
1.) We tend to have more education. That means we have a more sophisticated, more powerful machinery inside our skulls, and thus more human capital hitched onto us. It is the same as if we were farmers and owned a powerful tractor instead of a mule.
2.) The society in general has more sophisticated machinery available to all of us, whether in factory, office, shop, or bureaucracy we have machines that allow us to produce more widgets per unit of our time. These would range from immense excavating tools to i-Pads.
Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2012/09/26/america-unglued
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