It’s Canada Day, I’m working at home and it’s pouring rain. I have neither a beer in my mitt nor a flag flying outside the house. So my sitrep aligns with the celebrations in Canada that have been subdued by the pandemic. I opted for a simple indoor salute to mark la Fête du Canada.
The Great White North is far from perfect, but I think it’s pretty darn good. Why else would people come from around the world to live there? Today, I miss my homeland, but celebrate its birthday and all that’s good and right there.
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| Two years ago, but a cute photo |
Riffing off the notion of far-from-perfect but-pretty-darn-good, let me offer a few observations about Ladies E. and M. Recently, they’ve embraced junior entrepreneurship and making money. It’s the compelling magic of capitalism!
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| Courtesy of Karl Hess and Amazon Books |
I believe entrepreneurship thrives because some people envisage an opportunity, work hard and take risks to fulfill a perceived need, for profit. Kids are no different from adults, just smaller and less cynical. My daughters are consummate entrepreneurs. They laser-sighted new ways to manage and manipulate their poor papa to obtain some cash. I’m learning that as the Rising Daughters develop and are further immersed in society, the more they want stuff. And as soon as they decide they want it, they want it right NOW.
They already get monthly allowances and receive generous cash gifts from their grandparents. (They do save some of this largesse.) Yet it doesn’t seem to be enough. Not being old enough to get a part-time job, what’s a daughter to do?
Marina, for one, does “special projects.” In reality, that means extra study projects or cleaning jobs like raking leaves. I assign her long written assignments which helps maintain her thinking, organizing and writing chops in English. (Examples: “Why I got mad when doing my homework and how to fix that” and “Why I brush my teeth”). We still have not succeeded in getting her to delay gratification or save any of the extra money she earns. Meh.
Older sister Lady E. is better at saving but lazier; she refuses menial odd jobs. As a digital native, she prefers using the internet to maximize her yen purchasing power. Case in point, she has an account in Mercari, the marketplace app using my name and credit. It allows users to buy and sell items from their smartphones and ship them anonymously from local convenience stores. She buys and sells manga comics, and who knows what else? She’s also “old economy” smart. For example, she’ll buy a box of ice cream cones on sale for about 250 yen, and then tell everyone they’re in the freezer. Later, when family members rummage for snacks at night, she demands a 200% markup. Smart kid.
There’s also the steady supply of 100 yen coins I pay to both girls as a penalty whenever I utter the F-bomb and they can hear it.
I read in a recent U.S. poll that members of Gen Z (ages 18-24) are ambivalent toward capitalism: 42% have a positive view and 54% negative. The poll’s suggestion was the wealth gap among Americans that became more visible during COVID has adversely influenced younger adults’ view of capitalism. In 2019, 58% of Americans ages 18-34 reacted positively to the word capitalism. That's plunged to 49% today. Capitalism seems to be trending negative among young people.
The Rising Daughters™ are taking the opposite track. Maybe because they’re part of an as-yet unnamed generational cohort, or perhaps they’re just different, it seems my daughters are unrepentant market economy enthusiasts. At least, for now…
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