But the cultural component is much more powerful. It is not, as people seem to think, the passing on of information from one generation to another in 'folk memory', as it were. It is that cultural tendencies, over time, become deeply embedded in all aspects of the culture - in education, work ethic, politics, belief and value systems etc. In other words it 'infects' the entire social organization.

That kind of deep effect is very very slow to change, and influences the context of individuals who may lose or reject the folk memory of their family.

Even as an Englishman (living here 35 years) in Finland, I am also affected by this cultural context, though the values I came here with were hardly in tune with it.

You can't be me, I'm taken

There is a form of responsibility which comes from the requirement to run a tight ship - the important item being the notion of "ship", i.e. self-contained, with no outside savior to help you if you run out of resources. If you are dependent on outside resources (as Japan and much or Europe for energy) you need to have something of value to provide in return, and that certainly makes you a lot more serious about working enough and well.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes