[extropy-chat] millionaires in America

[J. Andrew Rogers]

On 7/28/05 12:25 PM, "Damien Broderick" <thespike at satx.rr.com> wrote:
> 
> In other words, if I've done my add-ups right, for every millionaire
> household that produces at least one millionaire offspring, it takes 110
> poorer households to produce one. I think this was the ratio Robbie was
> looking for.


Yes, I suppose that is an interesting way of looking at it.

What it also suggests is that there is a cultural and genetic selection
process at work -- evolution in action.  When these statistics are sorted
across ethnic groups and cultures, the results are far more striking.  While
there is probably a genetic component that offers an advantage (like the
abundance of bright compulsive workaholics in my family), I think culture is
responsible for the lion's share of why some people are financially
successful and others are not.

Like Samantha stated, people who are raised in a culture that embraces
extravagant consumption and has no concept of investment or saving will be
at a disadvantage because thriftiness is a big portion of how wealth is
accumulated, at least in the US.  And leaving the cultural reservation is
rarely easy for most people. People raised in a culture/environment that
promotes wealth accumulating principles will likely have wealthy parents for
the same reasons that the children are.  But this is quite a bit different
than the idea that people with wealthy parents are wealthy entirely as a
result of inheritance.  In most cases in the US, it appears that most of the
useful inheritance is solid values regarding how one manages their finances.


J. Andrew Rogers