Still not buying it. I love my parents. My mom has passed, but my dad is still living. They didn't teach me financial literacy, however, I did learn about plac

Still not buying it. I love my parents. My mom has passed, but my dad is still living. They didn't teach me financial literacy, however, I did learn about placing bets on horses at a young age ;) My father and mother both never completed high school. Dad was an ex-merchant marine, Golden Gloves boxer (runner up champ in NYC in the 50s). My Dad and I have a good understanding now, but there were some really bad physical times in the household, let's leave it at that without making this an Oprah show candidate. I would say that movies and books some consider trite, contrived, romantic, boring, unrealistic, nowadays, helped give me an ideal to live towards, or heroes if you will. I think there aren't as many, but they are shunned or looked down on in current times by intellectual elites to the detriment of the good they do. I grew up without TV, and a phone for most of my childhood. It wasn't until I was eleven that me and my friends rode the subway from Brooklyn to Manhattan without adult supervision. Even some of the poorest in the US have internet and a semi-smartphone for immediate at-your-fingertips information. I would say they have a leg up on some of my peers there. So, aside from the tails where there are extreme cases, I am an optimist, and think it is easier to escape your roots so to speak. [Edit] I realized after reading my response that I still carry a chip on my shoulder, but in the interests of transparency, and a lesson in humulity, I'll let the post stand as is. My apologies if any offense is given above.