One of the things I strive to do as a mom is to make life better for my boys. Better than I had it as a child, with the opportunity to thrive when they become adults. That's not to say my childhood was bad, per se.
It was what it was. Adulthood has had its ups and downs, but -- through hard work and determination -- I do think I'm better off than my parents were. Some people get very, very offended at the notion that part of a parent's job description is to give their children every advantage to succeed in life.
Whether it's rooted in laziness or jealousy or political animus, many people think it's 'unfair' when some parents give their children advantages over others. I wrote about the reaction to this earlier : Yes, but at a social level, it is not good to allow parents to do everything possible to advantage their children over the children of others. But it warrants a deeper dive into the mentality that makes someone not only believe this, but to post it on a public platform like X.
In the context of the thread, McArdle is talking about the advantages that come with parents who leave large financial estates to their children. But her words imply that limiting the 'advantages' parents give their children does not stop at their bank accounts. I distinctly remember a story about how it's 'unfair' (there's that word again) for parents to read to their children.
I hadn't realized this story is almost a decade old by now, but here it is : In an interview with ABC Radio last week,.