Shirt Sleeves are coming

There is an old saying, “shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in three generations”. Well it’s true. A man or woman will work their entire life to build a business from nothing. They will start out in shirt sleeves and end up in silk suits which, usually they are buried in since they have literally worked themselves to death. They do this gladly to provide a better life for their children, which is a motivation we can all understand.

And then there are the children. They have grown up never wanting for anything since it has always been provided “gratis” free of charge and nothing more expected of them other than to have a good life.  And they do have a good life if it can be called that since they have no appreciation of what it means to struggle for anything.

I grew up poor or at least that’s what I’m told. I had enough to eat and a roof over my head. And I had limitless opportunities to grow and imagine and dream. When I was eight my parents purchased a full set of the world book encyclopedia. WOW. These became my world. Any place I wanted to go could be found in those pages be it Ireland or the moon. And as a consequence I learned to desire and the pleasure of achievement. And that my friends, is wealth to me.

But back to these “rich” children. They had money to spend and that’s what they did with no idea where or how money was created. In many cases they would borrow against their parent’s fortune to extend the “good times”. Well, reality catches up eventually and the fun is over.

The third generation in this saga is back to shirt sleeves. Honestly, I think that this third generation is better off than the second, assuming of course that their parents did not saddle them with insurmountable debt. They will have a structure in their lives based upon what is truly important (family, faith, genuine friendship, productive work) and the satisfaction of contributing to their society.

Sadly my friends, our country is in the tail end of the second generation syndrome. We have lived the good life never knowing at what price this wealth was bought. We have borrowed against imagined future prosperity to extend the good times just a little further. Well the note is due, our credit is over extended and the good times are at an end. Shall we now live up to the obligation that we have run from far too long and thus let our children live and flourish? Or shall we instead deny our responsibility and enslave future generations with our lack of wisdom.

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