Movement

Yesterday, He was talking about family estates, how the most prestigious families have land that’s been in their families for many generations. He said, “It is a sign of weakness when a wealthy family has to sell an estate. It is a tremendous failure. Old money should be perpetual.”
I thought the distinctions between old money and new money had gone away some time ago. When I thought about it in the context of what he has told me so far, I cannot imagine that distinction ever going away. Their ancestry and selective breeding are too important to them.
I thought about my family, and the families of people I knew before coming here. I cannot think of anyone who has owned land going back generations. Most people I know rent flats, not full houses or anything with land. If a family has enough money they will buy a house, but even then, they often move in ten years or less due to rising property taxes, cost of upkeep, or job relocation. For those of us that rent, we have to move every few years just to stay within our budgets. Later, I asked him if there was a purpose behind people needing to move so often.
“Oh, yes, there are several reasons”, He replied. “Primarily, we keep consumers moving around so they can’t form lasting bonds. It is one of the best incentives for individualism the game has produced so far. When people move every few years, they can’t form stable long term communities. They are more likely to live as individuals. They spend more money. They buy more things, consume more media, eat more prepared food. They contribute more to the economy. It also allows for redevelopment of areas that are aging, and transfers land ownership into the hands of people who can develop it.”
“It’s important for the whole market economy and human progress. If people stayed in one place among the same people, they would revert to outdated forms of human settlement, by forming communities, working together, and sharing resources. It is the opposite of the interests of the market and individualism. When people keep moving and live alone, they spend more money. They also diversify their own particular lifestyles. This leads to greater consumption, and further drives society toward individualism. People who live separately need their own things, and rely on professionals rather than sharing goods and services with others.”
Personal cultural differences. I remember a student who talked about the expanding diversity of personal cultural differences, and how this was leading to a break down in trust and community. He said it was happening around the world, mostly in cities, and at accelerated rates in developed nation states with market driven economies. The result of the growth of individualism and consumerism.