3,000 years of frozen family careers: why abundance, not money, expands life choices
yunta_tsai · x · 2026-11-08
A reflection on labor and abundance: before capitalism, work was mostly inherited—born a farmer, your children would be farmers too. The author's family tree shows almost no career change across 3,000 years (priest, farmer, farmer...) until the last 50 years, when descendants finally gained choice as scarcity faded—just 1.6% of family history had occupational freedom.
Key claim: scarce resources lock life paths at birth, and resources are not money—when production is scarce, money can't move the needle, just as sprinkling cash on soil won't grow food faster. You need fertile land, skilled farmers, and good tools. Only abundance creates choice.
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