From Vanity Fair to Fire

I'm reading Vanity Fair while London burns, apparently. I get the impression William Makepeace Thackeray disapproved of certain aspects of high society- which are not aspects of that society at all actually. We've got vanity in spades, we've got a sense of entitlement, class warfare, etc... Everything bad they had, we've got, but with hoodies and thuggish manners.

But, somehow, in that less egalitarian society, vanity was harnessed to serve a larger goal; continuing the line, building up capital, improving the family. The wealthier families tended to have larger families, and put a great amount of forethought (and capital) into the future of their families.

Forethought seems in short supply now. Neither the politicians nor the welfare class seem to know where stuff comes from. They appear unable to realize that people stop making stuff once it's clear some idiot is going to come along and steal it. They also appear incapable of thinking about reproduction; it is as if children are a random happenstance.