The Chinese equivalent of this would be from peasant shoes to peasant shoes in three generations, the Italian is from peasant shoes to peasant shoes, and in Scotland the father buys, the son builds, the grandchild sells and his son begs. In Sweden it is förvärva, ärva, fördärva (build, inherit, destroy).
Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations posits how generational wealth is destroyed over three generations. The first generation knows great suffering so works hard to escape it. The second generation sees the work put in by the first generation and takes care of it, but the third generation sees it as a given, takes it for granted, and often squanders it.
These days you have ‘nepo babies’ children of famous people who ride the coattails of their famous parents, without great talent or drive. Poor Brooklyn Beckham is often named as an example of this. As are some of the Rausings, the heirs to the Tetrapak fortune. Playboys often have hardworking grandparents.
According to the Family Business Institute, only 30% of family businesses survive beyond the founder’s generation. Only 12% make it to the third generation, and a paltry 3% persevere into the fourth.
I cannot help but wonder if the present state of our world is partly because people have forgotten how hard our older generations worked to rebuild after the World Wars. Forgotten how much solidarity it took to create the 8 hour day and the five-day week. Forgotten how many people fought and died for rights we take for granted. Forgotten how fragile democracy is. If we forget things like the Holocaust and the second World War, we WILL be doomed to repeat them.
Here are awful examples of that. These were – I kid you not – fashion and housewares with images of Auschwitz on them for sale on Redbubble. Someone actually thinks Nazi death camps are fashion-worthy?
There is a theory (often criticised) called The Strauss-Howe generational theory. It posits that history repeats itself in roughly 80-year cycles, with each cycle encompassing four generations and four “turnings” (High, Awakening, Unraveling, Crisis). Each turning lasts about 20 years.
High: A period of optimism and growth.
Awakening: A time of social unrest and questioning.
Unraveling: A period of social decay and decline.
Crisis: A major societal crisis, such as war or political upheaval.
Of course there are exceptions to the three-generations curse. Anita Roddick of The Body Shop left everything to charity when she died. She said she had taught her children to support themselves and they did not need her money. The children agreed. Drew Barrymore is probably more famous than her parents and grandparents.
But looking at developments in the world, I am wondering if we are not in the ‘to shirtsleeves‘ part of that equation. Elon Musk is an accelerationist, which I find very scary. According to Wikipedia, accelerationism refers to the idea of intentionally intensifying existing processes of social change, technological development, and economic growth, with the goal of destabilizing current systems and facilitating radical transformation. So you basically destroy the existing system in order to build a new one. Accelerationists often look fondly to the economic growth and progress that happened after the end of the second world war. Maybe that is why Elon Musk is having so many children – repopulation after he has caused total system collapse?
Your writing is excellent.
My father was a child during World War II. My mother was born after. I’m GenX. I’ve had to work hard for everything I have, but I didn’t have to start at zero. My parents supported me in university and in getting my advanced degree. They couldn’t pay my tuition, but I never had to worry about food, housing, or transportation. Even now, I know that I would have their support if I needed it.
I vote in every election because during my grandmothers’ lives, they gained the right to vote.
Younger people seem to take their rights for granted even as those rights are being stripped away. (I live in the U.S.) Many seem to believe that it won’t happen to them.
I love and appreciate my life of small luxuries, but I know life can turn on a dime. The people, pets, and things one loves can be taken in an instant.
Another factor could also be that generation 1 sacrificed their family to create wealth and build organisation. They were absent parents, or not very good ones because work came first. The second generation did not want to do that to their own children so they overindulged and protected the third generation who are then spoiled, helpless, and unable to fend for themselves. Whichever way you look at it, we may be doomed to endlessly repeat history and not learn a thing
I completely agree with you. I think that thanks to the older generations who have worked so hard, our lives have become easier, which means we don’t feel the need to work as hard, but we should. Too much is taken for granted. The newer generation is super scary in terms of how entitled they are. If someone had told me how things would be like now, when I was a teenager, I would never have believed it. I think the Boomers were the ones that really worked very hard, then us, Gen X, had the luxury to find ourselves and explore what could be done and how to shape our future and now the other generations are taking everything for granted and not pulling their weights… (sorry for the word salad, but I completely see what you mean and it’s highly depressing)
My parents were about 10 when the second world war started. That scarred them both in many ways, particularly the food shortages and rationing. My mother would never throw anything away and feared food insecurity. On the other hand, their generations could find jobs, buy houses and create families more easily. It’s so hard for young people in many countries to get on the housing ladder or find secure jobs now, let alone start a family. But there are some rights that are taken for granted these days and I think they are at risk. When free speech turns into hate speech and no one bats an eyelid I think we enter scary territory.