By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher, GwinnettForum
SEPT. 9, 2025 | What fundamental characteristics lead to success?
What matters most in how we develop as human beings?
Are there characteristics that are common in our development?
Are there similarities in the development of people from other cultures?
An article by David Brooks in The New York Times last week got us to thinking. (To read the entire article, go here.)
Academics love questions like above. They relish studying them, since they are simple yet important questions about mankind that have been asked for generations.
We’re not referring to financial success. We’re dwelling on being a success as a human being.
Our American government attempts to solve problems in mainly one way: throw money at any problem. That will work, right?
Not so fast. Yes, money helps, but it turns out that study after study shows that money is usually not the main way to solve problems of society.
The government seems to think that to solve the problem of poverty, you give a family in poverty cash money to pay their way out of poverty and find happiness. Yet recent studies, and those from years ago, again and again find that families in poverty are not very good at becoming self-sufficient and staying above the poverty line, no matter how much money you throw at them.
A short result might make you realize: “People are slow to change.”
“Since some people rise above their heritage, and though they come from families with strong and long ties to poverty, how did they succeed?”
Look around and you’ll find answers in some successful people who never had it easy when growing up.
It’s the fundamental elements of family life learned when a child makes the difference. And it doesn’t happen in every family in poverty, but in enough poor families to give us hope.
It may be non-material forces that drive this question.
What forces?
These little forces matter. They can be defined in a few words and phrases, such as personal responsibility, religious ideals, traditions, moral norms, culture, honesty and community cohesion. As long as there is in this family history of discipline and duty, concerns, understood obligations, restraint, reliability and trustworthiness…then there is hope for the family, and for their offsprings.
You can see this as true in families with long histories of financial stability, yet it is also true from families who have for long years had to face poverty. Good can prevail if there is continued effort to raise your head above the waters, with a solid broader family watching your back.
Note that governments find it difficult to throw money at these family considerations. For instance, how could a government at any level try to fund trustworthiness? It’s not in the same ballpark.
Is this true in all countries? We do not know, but anthropologists might be able to address that. We suspect it is true everywhere.
So, what are we to do to make the world better?
Do all you can to keep your family close, and support one another, so its members can succeed as human beings. Today many don’t always live near loved-ones. Support one another in all ways you can. Burn the telephone wires and keep up with one another. You’ll be doing your part to help make the world better through successful members of your family.
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