If we continue to live beyond our means, what's the point? It's like rats fighting for scraps onboard a sinking ship... sure, I'll fight for the bigger tastier

If we continue to live beyond our means, what's the point? It's like rats fighting for scraps onboard a sinking ship... sure, I'll fight for the bigger tastier crumb, but the ship's still going down. If it's not us that will drown, it's the next generation. Alternative framing: rather than thinking of it as "subsisting on the minimum essentials", how do you build a legacy that will continue to outlive you in perpetuity?