You hit on a lot of different things in this post. I could start with the last statement about wanting what we want now at the cost of tomorrow. That's why the world is in such financial trouble. Countries, I'll speak specifically of the US, have been borrowing from tomorrow's prosperity to fund even more prosperity today. And our children are the ones who will pay for it.
Life isn't all about just doing what makes you happy right now. There are sacrifices that must be made, and you probably have to eat some things you don't enjoy as much as cake and ice cream. But vegetables are good for you.
You reap what you sow, and if you've been sowing for wealth and success because that's what your parents trained you to do, then you're more likely to reap success. If your parents didn't know how to gain wealth and therefore didn't teach you, chances are you've got a lot of work to do.
Let's start with flossing our teeth...
What if instead of giving them the debt, we gave them a blockchain filled with distributed value and destroyed the debt distributors? Pipe dream perhaps but, not un-serviceable.
Toothpaste was supposedly invented because the teeth of America were in such poor condition that it was making people too ill to be able to go to war and fight and die for their country.
I think it would be amazing if we could pass on a legacy of not only zero debt, but also of wealth. And if we can teach our children the importance of money and the proper way to use it, that would be even better.
I didn't know that's why toothpaste was invented. That's interesting that dental hygiene would come to the forefront because the army was dying from bad teeth.
In the end, they had to use sex to sell it if I remember correctly. They added the mint for freshness and then a pretty girl and something about kissing. It was a while ago I read about it so i might be confused :)
Ha ha ha! Like most other advertising.