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November 19, 2007
Gauntlet: accepted!
In a previous entry, I asked "If you think Paris Hilton (or the Gates' kids, for that matter) have some sort of moral right to being given money they didn't earn, by all means speak up."
Not as such, but I believe that rich people have a moral right to dispose of their wealth as they see fit. If I build up a multi-million dollar business, teach my children how to run it, and I want to leave it to them when I'm gone, that is my right. And if I want to sell my business and leave my children cash instead, that is my right, too. Just as it would be my right to sell the business and spend the proceeds on myself before I die.
The argument over the Estate Tax always seems to come down to a fundamental misunderstanding of it's nature, genially, intelligently, and fully on display in this post. The tax is not on the giving of wealth, but on the reception of wealth.
This seems like a small distinction-- one without importance.* It is, however, the vital distinction. Earned wealth is, of course!, the engine which powers civilization. The accumulation of wealth is also the accumulation of power. It's nearly axiomatic-- in a capitalist society we can scratch the qualifier.
Recall that the Estate tax only kicks in for something like .01% of all households-- the very rich. Without some sort of check on that wealth it will simply grow. Power will be passed on, concentrated in fewer hands-- hands far removed from the creativity which created that wealth. Let each generation prove itself anew. Let talent rise, and let us use the tools at our disposal to keep the worthless heirs of talent from buying positions they could not win.
*In the comments section, Maniakes shows a rather sophisticated understanding of the moral side of the argument. That understanding puts us very close to the same side on this debate.
Posted by Andrew at November 19, 2007 06:03 PM
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