I have been seeing this poster on office walls for the last couple of years. I do not know the author or the exact wording, but the gist of it is that how full one's back account is, or how fine a car one drives, or how lovely is one's home--these things will not matter 100 years from now, but if the author is a successful parent, raising a healthy, normal child, that contribution is eternal.
This is a fine sentiment, true and noble, but it is a little too idealistic and impractical. It is out of balance; it lacks context. Children, from a mom and dad nuclear family that are married, loving, fair but strict, should grow up normal, healthy and happy. With the right set of values--to maverize--these children could be healthy, normal and the super-achievers coming in the near future.
But the family that raises them with the right values will be a family that has plenty of money in its bank account. That dad will teach his children to buy and take care of a nice car. He will teach them to boy a gorgeous but not hyper-expensive house, and then spend lots of time, money and attention to care for these material possessions.
Without a proper appreciation for material possessions, and the worth and value of acquiring money, the great-grandchildren 100 years from now will not have come from a wise, sensible family tradition where people and things both matter. A person can pursue her dreams and still make plenty of money. Indeed, one hand washes the other.
Nice poster, sweet idealism, a little lacking in common sense.
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