[I've revised this comment several times now, but I don't actually know where we disagree. I'm just leaving it as is for now.]
> Gregory Clark has an awesome book on this, The Son Also Rises.
I haven't read Clark's book personally. But a passage via SSC [1] (a link which I cited for you to follow and actually read):
> efforts to democratise education and eliminate discrimination over the past century appear to have had no discernible effect on mobility
which is, uh, sort of better relates to the toppish-level discussion.
SSC cited how Georgia raffled off the land they stole from the Cherokee. The white lotto-winning descendants weren't appreciably better off. This exemplifies how dynastic wealth can diminish because of a lack of some intangible value (work ethic? genes?), which incidentally Gen Y may not have inherited from Gen X and the Baby Boomers. I.e. I see no issues with my theory so far.
Also your Socrates quote is off point. The Greeks had this notion that civilization had descended from a Golden Age to a Silver Age, and from there a Bronze Age. They also believed civilization would continue to decline linearly. This is obviously silly since the Western World's economy has appreciated a wazzilion fold since the Renaissance. But the point of the Chinese Proverb was more consistent with the "Mandate of Heaven/Dynastic Cycle" meme. I.e. dynastic wealth ebbs and flows like a business cycle. This idea is incompatible with neither dynastic long-term growth nor societal long-term growth.
> Gregory Clark has an awesome book on this, The Son Also Rises.
I haven't read Clark's book personally. But a passage via SSC [1] (a link which I cited for you to follow and actually read):
> efforts to democratise education and eliminate discrimination over the past century appear to have had no discernible effect on mobility
which is, uh, sort of better relates to the toppish-level discussion.
SSC cited how Georgia raffled off the land they stole from the Cherokee. The white lotto-winning descendants weren't appreciably better off. This exemplifies how dynastic wealth can diminish because of a lack of some intangible value (work ethic? genes?), which incidentally Gen Y may not have inherited from Gen X and the Baby Boomers. I.e. I see no issues with my theory so far.
Also your Socrates quote is off point. The Greeks had this notion that civilization had descended from a Golden Age to a Silver Age, and from there a Bronze Age. They also believed civilization would continue to decline linearly. This is obviously silly since the Western World's economy has appreciated a wazzilion fold since the Renaissance. But the point of the Chinese Proverb was more consistent with the "Mandate of Heaven/Dynastic Cycle" meme. I.e. dynastic wealth ebbs and flows like a business cycle. This idea is incompatible with neither dynastic long-term growth nor societal long-term growth.
[1] http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/05/26/compound-interest-is-th...