The people who created this country built a moral structure around money. The Puritan legacy inhibited luxury and self-indulgence. Benjamin Franklin spread a practical gospel that emphasized hard work, temperance and frugality. Millions of parents, preachers, newspaper editors and teachers expounded the message. The result was quite remarkable.
The United States has been an affluent nation since its founding. But the country was, by and large, not corrupted by wealth. For centuries, it remained industrious, ambitious and frugal.
Over the past 30 years, much of that has been shredded. The social norms and institutions that encouraged frugality and spending what you earn have been undermined. The institutions that encourage debt and living for the moment have been strengthened. The country’s moral guardians are forever looking for decadence out of Hollywood and reality TV. But the most rampant decadence today is financial decadence, the trampling of decent norms about how to use and harness money.
Sixty-two scholars have signed on to a report by the Institute for American Values and other think tanks called, “For a New Thrift: Confronting the Debt Culture,” examining the results of all this. This may be damning with faint praise, but it’s one of the most important think-tank reports you’ll read this year.
By Richard B. Wagner, JD, CFP®
I recommend you read both the article and the report. They each represent good work and they will help you understand what is happening.
This is written by our Fellow Don St. Clair. To read the first part click here. In many ways, ours is a borrowed profession. I remember taking career aptitude tests in college. The results were always the same: CPA, stockbroker; financial planner. Regardless of mood or my state of mind at the time: stressed, tired, hungover
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Natalie Wagner Willis: Thanks for joining us on today’s, What is Finology? podcast. Our guest today is lawyer and seasoned financial planner, Dick Vodra an expert in what he calls Worldview Two which is the state of the world after climate change has taken hold. The questions are, will money mean then what it means
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Yes, I’m starting this Finology in Our Lives series with a fair amount of complex philosophy – but stay with me! These ideas are fundamental to Finology & our work at What is Finology?, and they might expand your understanding of money in our lives. Don’t worry, I’ll bring it back. Up next is an analysis of
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