Economic Wisdom to Apply in Your Twenties

Chapter 83

Chapter 10 Section 6 Even the most shrewd economists cannot value maternal love

There is such a story recorded in "Confucius Collection":

One day, when Confucius went out, he heard crying and was very sad.Confucius said, "Hurry up, there are sages ahead." When he arrived at the place where the cry came, it turned out to be Gao Yu, who was wearing a short linen jacket and holding a sickle, crying by the side of the road.Confucius got out of the car and said to him, "You have no funeral, why are you crying so sad?" Gao Yu said, "I lost three things. When I was young, I went out to study and traveled around the princes. When I came back, my parents were dead. The first loss. Because of my lofty ambitions, I can't tactfully advise the luxurious monarch. This is the second loss. Although I have a deep relationship with my friends, they have gradually broken off. This is the third loss." "Desire for a tree." Quiet but the wind does not stop, the child wants to support but the relatives do not wait. Those who go but cannot be chased are young; those who go but cannot be seen are relatives." After Gao Yu finished speaking, he stood up and died.

Confucius said: "Students should take it as a warning. Having experienced this, it is enough for people to know what to do."

This is the origin of the saying "the child wants to support but the relative does not wait".

In the highly competitive modern society, maybe you have to leave your parents and go out to start a business; maybe you are too busy with your work and blood to take care of your parents; maybe you have your own significant other and start your own family. No longer rely on parents.For young people in their twenties, their golden years have just begun, and more than half of their parents' lives have passed.If you are in your twenties, you may not know the sadness of "the child wants to support but the relative does not wait for you", but have you discovered that the health of the strong parents in the past is not as good as before, and the parents we have been relying on are getting old helplessly? go?

We travel around the world and work hard, thinking that the behavior of guarding our parents is foolish filial piety, and when we are successful, we will be filial to our parents to be truly filial.In fact, in the eyes of economists, this is exactly the price that shrewd modern people have become accustomed to thinking about filial piety from the perspective of input and output, cost and benefit.You must also consciously or unconsciously think that filial piety requires paying the following costs:

1. Filial piety requires frequent home visits to parents.Nowadays, young people are in the period of career struggle, busy with work and high pressure in life. If they often visit their parents, they will waste time and work. If their parents are away from home, they will increase their opportunity costs.

2. Filial piety means taking care of parents.Children should have the responsibility to take care of their parents' basic necessities of life, but after they get old, they are inconvenient to move, and it takes time and energy to take care of them.If you are sick, you have to pay for the medical expenses for your parents.Even if a sum of money is invested, it may not be effective.

3. To be filial to your parents means to care about your parents and communicate with them.But when parents get old, they both have the problem of nagging, they always bring up some old things and talk about them over and over again.Young people are busy with work and time is precious, so they don't have so much time and leisure to spend with their parents.

Calculated in this way, filial piety to parents is a loss-making business for oneself. Not only is the cost high, but there is almost no benefit.However, while you are proud of your own economic mind, please don't forget to think about the price your parents paid when they raised you with the same economical perspective.

When you were young, they took care of your basic necessities, food, housing and transportation, and took medicine when you were sick. Which parents didn’t pay the price?What parent doesn't spend time and money on it?When you are happy or sad, you can talk to your parents at any time and take up their time, but have you ever thought about the opportunity cost of your parents?If we really talk about the price, shouldn't it be more fair to count from the time when your parents raised you?

Economist Wang Yuxia once said, "Fathers raise their children, and sons raise their elders." "Parents are the rare, irreplaceable and non-renewable emotional resources of children."Filial piety to parents is originally a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, but it has been diluted by the fierce competition and huge pressure of survival in modern society.More people began to chase fame and fortune, and more people worked hard day and night to survive.

Indeed, being filial to your parents will lose your time and money to a certain extent, but while you are young, you still have time to earn money back, but for the elderly, their time is running out, and you are not much Their dedication can give them incomparably great utility.How would you feel if one day you suddenly heard that your parents passed away, and it was too late to share the joy of your success?

The book "The Man Who Loved Me the Most in the World Has Gone" by female writer Zhang Jie once caused a sensation. The book talks about the relationship between children and parents.Therefore, don't wait until "the son wants to support but the relatives will not wait", and when you really lose it, you realize how much you can't bear this loss.Because, the pain and regret of losing your parents and failing to fulfill your filial piety is the price you pay for only caring about your work and your own life!
Wisdom Pieces: Ancient Teachings on Filial Piety
Thousands of classics, filial piety comes first. —— "Zeng Guang Xian Wen"
Sheep have the grace of kneeling and breastfeeding, and crows have the righteousness of feeding back. - "Zengguang Xianwen".
Parents call, should not slow down; parents order, do not be lazy. ——(Qing) Li Yuxiu's "Disciple Regulations".
Husband's filial piety is the scriptures of heaven and the righteousness of earth. - "Book of Filial Piety".
Good food should be used by parents first, and good clothes should be worn by parents first. —— "Persuasion to report relative kindness".
Those who are slow to others are those who do not respect their relatives. - "Three Kingdoms? Wei Shu".
Mencius said: I am old and I am old, and I am young and I am young. - "Mencius? King Hui of Liang on."
Zeng Zi said: Fortunately, there are three, the first is filial piety and respect for relatives, the second is not to be humiliated, and the second is to be able to support. - "Book of Rites".
Confucius said: Parents are here, if you don't travel far, you must travel well. - "The Analects of Confucius? Liren Fourth."

(End of this chapter)