Children Are Kites That Do Not Need to Be Tied Down: A Capitalist's Philosophy of Education

Letter:

Written at 3:56 p.m. on July 4, 2026:

Hi James,

I am also thinking about the purpose of studying.

Honestly, under Taiwan's education system, apart from exams, I do not really know how much can cultivate children to explore themselves, find their own interests, develop them, and then contribute to society.

I have one child who is one year old this year, and another still in the womb who will be born in a month. For example, I want to teach my children how to spend money meaningfully, so that while growing their wealth, they can also spend money in a meaningful way. But I do not have a good way to start.

I would like to ask you, teacher, to share your thoughts on cultivating children's education.

James

James's Reply

Since ancient times, education has been behavioral education.

A child's earliest learning environment is the family, so the interaction between parents has a very large influence on the child. There are also family relationships. What children see is your relationship and interaction with your parents.

Do you and your parents and siblings have fixed times to gather, visit, care for one another, take your own parents to good restaurants, and take your parents traveling together? This shapes your child's future relationship with you.

Since my daughter was zero years old, I returned to Taiwan every winter and summer vacation to gather with family and relatives. I organized trips for the entire family of 15 or 16 people, including grandparents, uncles, aunts, and my daughter's cousins. The whole family traveled together.

Now my daughter proactively invites us to travel together, and every week she regularly eats, drinks coffee, and chats with us.

Without realizing it, you are teaching your children how to spend spiritual energy.

Before Apple launched the iPod video, I had already demonstrated the concept and prototype of iPod video at Acer's Global Technology Forum. But Acer could not promote it, because we could not do Podcast and Spotify, and at that time we also did not have enough capital to acquire YouTube.

This shows that different soil produces different people. Some figures can only emerge in America. It depends on whether you hope your children have the chance to become Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Elon, or simply live a happy life.

The middle class in America is actually under great pressure. The external living environment is good. Taiwan's small, ordinary happiness can still be quite happy as long as you do not compare. This is especially true because of Taiwan's human environment and its small but beautiful geography.

I live between Taiwan and the United States. As long as you have money, living anywhere is good. With money, you can live in different places and see different places. Using money to buy happiness and well-being is more important than where you live at the beginning, because residence can always be changed. With money, you have the freedom to choose where to live.

Instead, what I mentioned above - parents' life education and family interaction - is what shapes whether children have cohesion, whether siblings respect and care for one another, whether fathers are kind and children are filial.

Children are kites that do not need to be tied down with a string. Naturally, the string will not break, and they will know the way home.

We capitalists are not affected by the environment. We are not limited by outside values. In any region and any environment, we can live as ourselves.