Sugar Relationships, Is It Still Worth Learning a Second Language? and Sharing Wealth After a Big Exit

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1:24Visit sierra.ai to learn more. Welcome to Office Hours with Prop G. This is the part of the show where we answer your questions about business, big tech, entrepreneurship, and whatever else is on your mind. If you'd like to submit a question for next time, you can send a voice recording to officehours at propgmedia.com. Again, that's officehours at propgmedia.com. Or post your question on the Scott Galloway subreddit, and we just might feature it in our next episode.

1:51First question. Our first question comes from a matter of fap. on Reddit. They ask, Prof G, what are your thoughts on sugar relationships? Aren't all healthy relationships mutually beneficial? What are your thoughts on its social acceptability and portrayals like in the latest White Lotus season? Please pardon my username, but had to ask the question on my alt, but feel free to identify me as such. Ha ha. Look, I think every relationship is a transaction to a certain extent. And And I don't, the bottom line is I don't have a problem with it. I think as long as there's consenting adults, I think there's a real problem with trafficking young women around the world where they're forced into relationships where they are preyed upon because of their economic desperation.

2:37I think that should be illegal. And, you know, when certain members of the manosphere are accused of trafficking young women, I think that should basically convince everyone that we just don't need to listen to these people around trying to help young men. But if you're a young person and you enter into a relationship with someone and you're giving up your time and you have more time than money and they have more money than time, yeah, you're consenting adults. I don't see anything wrong with that. I think that traditionally the male-female dynamic in the United States was I get emotional support and nurturing from the woman and the man provides financial support.

3:15And over the course of the last 30 or 40 years, women have been able to step up and provide more financial support. And there's a decent argument that men haven't stepped up in terms of emotional or domestic or logistical support, creating an imbalance where a lot more men are a lot less attractive to women. Now, I think there's other things involved there. I think online dating creates unreasonable expectations on both sides. I don't think young men have venues to demonstrate excellence. Young people aren't getting together. There's a zeitgeist of the moment you see not even a red flag, but a magenta flag, you should exit the relationship immediately.

3:45Like, oh, he didn't open your door. You're out of there. Well, okay, folks, not all of us are perfect. Anyways, I have no problem with it is the bottom line. I have absolutely no problem with it. I think at some point, relationships are a transaction. It's just a matter of cadence and currency. And as long as you're both consenting adults, also, let's be honest, the relationship is usually an older man giving a younger woman money. and if a younger woman whose fertility window is much shorter, who's in a city that values women of a certain age and devalues women of a certain age, if she's giving up her time, she should at least ensure she's going to get something out of it.

4:20And if the man has more money, I don't see any reason. So I have absolutely no problem with sugar relationships if in fact they're both consenting adults and it works for both of them. I think every relationship involves some sort of transaction. And as long as you're, both sides are transparent, as long as both sides are honest with each other, yeah, have at it. I think there's absolutely, yeah, no problem with it. So sugar away. Our second question comes from Paul. Not from Reddit. Paul asks. Hey, Scott. This is Paul, longtime fan of the pod. I actually got to shake your hand this past January in Houston after one of your speeches.

5:03We shared a brief memory flashback to Petrero Hill in the 90s and Goat Hill Pizza. Following up to a recent comment about second language learning being less valuable in today's AI era, one of my sons studied Mandarin through college and a formal language training program, including some immersion in Taipei and Beijing. I get your point. AI tools like real-time translation make the transactional need for another language less critical. But do you think that overlooks the relational side? Trust, nuance, mutual respect, that can only be built through two people communicating directly, especially in something as geopolitically important as the U.S.-China relationship.

5:53Thanks to you, your team, for the content and the occasional good jokes. Occasional? Come on, Paul. Thought it was good to see you in Houston. Look, I agree with everything you said. I think I've just finished writing a book on masculinity, or I don't know if it's masculine, called Notes on Being a Man. And the thing about when you write a book, you can get on almost any media outlet, or at least I've been blessed enough that if I write a book, I can get an almost media outlet. And I think a lot of it is because people in media realize how hard it is to write a book. And like, OK, you did the work and they have some goodwill towards you.

6:32I would imagine that I remember going to China with my friend, Doug Guthrie, who was the head of Apple University in China and was the dean of the George Washington Business School and a colleague of mine at NYU and a big China scholar. And he got up on stage and started speaking perfect Mandarin. And the whole audience just kind of stopped and listened very attentively because here was a white dude from the U.S. speaking perfect Mandarin. And there's just no doubt about it. That's like people go, that's hard. So we have more goodwill for you. Also, I think my understanding is learning a language is like learning an instrument.

7:08And that is, even if you never end up making a dollar from playing the tuba or get any additional advantage from understanding Mandarin or French, it opens a part of your brain when you're young that helps you absorb other knowledge more easily. That it's a great training. It's like when you damage a muscle and it grows back stronger. Essentially, I think learning the languages and music damages that muscle, your brain, and it grows back stronger across a variety of activities. So I'm not saying that we should get rid of language classes. I learned Spanish and it introduced me to Gabriela Garcia Marquez, 100 years, 100 years of solitude.

7:50I remember reading it in Spanish and there's the most beautiful scene in this book where this young woman is so beautiful that she literally floats away. I remember telling my mother, my children at one point, I was like a little drunk and feeling pretty good that she was so beautiful that I thought at some point that she might, you know, that it was a realistic or there's a non zero probability that the winds were going to kick up and she was literally going to just fly away or float away. And that romance and understanding it through the lens of Spanish. And I think Spanish is such a beautiful language.

8:25I took five years of Spanish. I'm I'm a lot of fun in Mexican restaurant. I actually still can't speak it. Mrs. Witten at Emerson Junior High School, no, University High School, always gave me a B, even though I probably should have got a C. I was terrible, terrible in languages, but I liked her and she liked me and she always gave me a B, which was comforting to get a B in Spanish. Anyways, I'm a fan. I just, what I don't like, or I think is stupid, is all of these, you know, tiger moms trying to get their kids to learn Mandarin by the time they're, you know, in 11th grade so they can go to China, which is going to economically conquer the U.S.

8:59For the most part, when I started going to Europe in the 90s with my consulting firm Profit, you'd walk into a meeting in France and they would speak French and be pissed off that you, they needed to translate for you. And now what I find is that lingua franca, even in Germany, when I go to meetings in Audi, they conduct the meetings in English. And I find generally speaking, the corporate world in Europe now is now conducting meetings in English and with AirPods and iPhone and AI, you're going to basically be able to speak any language or at least understand it. Having said that, you don't take language or music for economic prosperity or utility.

9:36I think you take it to learn, to appreciate the art, everything you've said. I think it's wonderful. So I think we're pretty much in agreement here. But the notion that you need to learn Mandarin to be economically viable, I just don't buy it. But yeah, it's something I wish I was better at. I took Spanish for a long time I was just never very good at it. I clearly don't have any earful languages. But anyways, muchas gracias. Si, me llamo Scott. ¿Dónde está la biblioteca? We'll be right back after a quick break.

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11:50Welcome back. Our final question comes from Reddit. Mother Ratio 9806 asks, Hey Scott, I'm at a crossroads with my wealth creation. I'm about to have an exit. I don't have much family, but I'd love to financially help out those I care deeply about post-exit. Is there a rule of thumb for family donations and is it ongoing or one-off? so i never really gave away a dollar to anyone or anything until i was 40 and now that i have some economic security i like to give money away it makes me feel masculine it makes me feel civic and i pay or i give some money away to my family i pay for education for some of my some of my nieces and nephews and i like it i think it's a great investment it's easy for me and it's a big source of relief for their parents because education can be so expensive.

12:42So it's sort of a win-win-win all around. In terms of best practices, one, A, do it. If you have the money, do it. I don't believe in hoarding wealth. I got to my number in 2017 and I'm giving everything above it now. I either spend it or give it away. And what I would say is the best practice is don't expect anything in return. Decide if you're giving it. if you're giving it, you don't expect anything in return. You don't expect your brother to be nicer to you. You don't expect your nephew to send you pictures of his or her graduation. You don't, I mean, if they do that, great. But if you're expecting anything, one, I think you're setting yourself up to be disappointed.

13:25Two, they're going to feel some sort of pressure that you're sort of controlling them through money. What I try and do when I give money to family members is I try to make it as seamless as possible. Hey, I was thinking about paying tuition for Jimmy, and I'd really like to do that. I have a fund that does that, da-da-da. How much is he paying? And then there's some back and forth. How much is it? Are you down with it? Get the wiring information, send it, and don't bring it up again. Don't bring it up again. Giving money is a weird thing. It can make them feel less, I don't know, less adult or less successful.

13:57You don't want them to feel bad. You don't want them to feel like there's any reciprocal expectation. You don't want to feel like you're exerting control. You're not trying to flex and make them feel bad. So just one, don't expect anything back. Make it as seamless, easy. Don't bring it up again. If they say, thank you, great. Oh, it's no problem. Don't dwell on it. Don't bring it up. You want this to be giving, right? You don't expect anything in return. You don't even need them to acknowledge it. You're giving it to them. It's out of your mind. You've given it to them, it's done, it's over. So one, do it, especially if you're in a position to do it, and you're going to find as you scratch the surface, even if you have cousins who look economically prosperous, they're stressed out about money.

14:40So it's an easy way to relieve stress. Money is nothing but the transfer of time and work to other people. So if you can give someone back a Sunday because they don't have to spend as much time working, or they're not as stressed, you take tension out of the relationship, it's a wonderful thing to do. So yes, do it. Two, don't expect anything back. And three, make it as clean and easy and covert and ninja-like as possible. Don't turn it into a big thing. Just do it. It's done. Never think about it again. And also just be really grateful and enjoy time thinking about how fortunate you are that you get to do that for other people.

15:19It feels, it really does feel wonderful. That's all for this episode. If you'd like to submit a question, please email a voice recording to officehoursofproptmedia.com. That's officehoursofproptmedia.com. Or if you prefer to ask on Reddit, just post your question on the Scott Galloway subreddit, and we just might feature it in an upcoming episode.

15:42This episode was produced by Jennifer Sanchez. Drew Burrows is our technical director. Thanks for listening to the Prop G pod from the Box Media Podcast Network.

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