You don't pay back your parents. You can't. The debt you owe them gets collected by your children, who hand it down in turn. It's a sort of entailment. Or if you don't have children of the body, it's left as a debt to your common humanity. Or to your God, if you possess or are possessed by one. The family economy evades calculation in the gross planetary product. It's the only deal I know where, when you give more than you get, you aren't bankrupted - but rather, vastly enriched. Lois McMaster Bujold
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The family is a closed circuit. The parents are the only ones who can pay back the debt they owe to the children. The children are the ones who hand it down to their own children. The family economy is a closed circuit that cannot be calculated into the gross planetary product. It is also called "the gift economy." This means that when you give more than you get, you are not bankrupted - but rather, vastly enriched.

Source: A Civil Campaign

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