A child’s success is far more important than their happiness. Happiness is for losers,  money is for winners.

I know I wish my parents had been more demanding of me as a child. Instead of loving me unconditionally, it would have been in my best interest that they demanded perfection. I did ballet for nine years, getting far into the program and getting en pointe. Yet, my parents let my lazy 14 year old self quit after many years of dedication and pain. What a waste of my time. 

Yolanda Hadid expected perfection from her two daughters, Gigi and Bella. Now, each supermodel has a net worth of over 20 million dollars each. Yes, Yolanda is often accused of starving and mistreating her daughters in exchange for their material success, but now they’re rich so it doesn’t really matter. They can afford as much therapy as their hearts desire. 

Children are essentially the property of their parents, whether or not that is morally correct doesn’t really matter. Our society runs on the ability to convert children into tools for societal and economic progression. If we give kids too much lenience, we prevent them from building a foundation of obedience and diligence. A child’s creativity may make for a few nice art pieces or a funny short story in their 3rd grade class, but what good does it have in the real world? Everybody knows the career paths for the arts are much more limited and lower paying than those in math and statistics. The world would go on without art, but not without logic and compliance.

A parent’s goal is clear and simple; set up your child for success, even when you’re no longer around. I personally would die of embarrassment if I learned that my child grew up to make less than seven figures. Who on earth is going to pay for my luxury retirement home?  How am I supposed to brag about my children at Tuesday brunches with Brenda if they aren’t disgustingly rich?

And so, it is vital to promote the ideal of success in our children from the moment they exit the womb. Little Timmy doesn’t like to do math, but he certainly likes chocolate. If a few candy bars is all it takes for him to get an A in the class, why not incentivise the kid? He may hate his parents through his teenage years for constantly pushing him towards their idea of success, but honestly, what teenager isn’t angry at their parents? Might as well make him angry while giving him the tools for a profitable future. 

We, as a society, thrive on the impressionable minds of children, in hopes of molding them into unoriginal machines of capitalism. Incentive may interfere with a child’s internal motivation, however, they will lack motivation in their future career anyways because work is done to pay the bills, not for enjoyment nor satisfaction. With billions of people on the planet, there is no job that could make any real difference in other’s lives. Climate change is out of control, so we may as well just sit back and let it happen. The only thing that can make a real difference in our lives is money. Money for me, myself and I. So reward your kids for following orders and set them up for a happy, wealthy life.