Mum reacted with the following to my post, "About wanting to climb into a box".

Not unlike the Great-Grandparents I mentioned, when I was a baby we lived for a while in a home (if you can call it that) that Mum and Dad built for us out of car packing cases in a boat yard. They were chasing a dream to build a yacht and sail around the world; pretty poor but industrious.

While the boat yard is not far from where I live today, the family’s circumstances have changed a lot since then, largely due to family values passed down through generations.

On that basis, it seemed appropriate to share her thoughts here.

Well written, well thought out, very complicated issues. The multi dimensional nature of the discussion means multi dimensional solutions.

Ian and I have lived our adult lives through 20 different governments, left, right and in between, and for the most part I don’t think politicians solve our problems.

Realising that we are, for the main part, responsible for our own success was, and is, the starting point for us. What do we want for our lives, and for our children?

One thing that doesn’t exist for us today, but did for me and possibly for Ian, is that hardship and poverty were a built in feature of our lives, the same as for most people.

To change that you need to do four things: Know what you want (or what you don’t want). Educate yourself (education and experience are the cornerstones of success). Work hard and, yes, live within your means.

What I do or don’t do personally is also more important than focusing on other people’s behaviour. I can’t complain about what politicians aren’t doing to deal with climate change or pollution if I’m not prepared to reduce my trash and use of plastic, cans, bottles etc.

Yes, I think Society is playing games. Consumerism, advertising, credit. At Wealth Mastery in 2006 we met a man who talked about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse — Conquest, War, Famine, and Death — which originated in the biblical Book of Revelation by John of Patmos.

That vivid imagery is frequently adopted as a secular analogy, with forces like consumerism, advertising, credit and unchecked materialism acting as modern-day harbingers of financial ruin and spiritual emptiness. People need to have the strength to not play those games. And not play the games on other people.