Current-Escaper t1_is8nui9 wrote on October 14, 2022 at 2:32 AM

Reply to comment by Anustart15 in Class background still a marker for ‘success’ in later life, research shows by Additional-Two-7312

I think there may be an implication that if your children don’t inherit anything another logical place for the inheritance to go would be into some of those community enrichment institutions and resources. Perhaps thereby closing the gap of which you speak.
I figure the rich don’t get rich from their own hard work alone, more so the higher you go. Money isn’t manifested by an individual, it takes many to facilitate the twisted funnels they’ve created and we’ve grown accustom to. It makes sense to me that perhaps to redistribute the wealth to the benefit of infrastructure/community/humanity would be far more prosperous for everyone, not just the currently living relatively fortunate few, than to morbidly hoard it to the detriment of the majority.

Freds_Bread t1_is8tyku wrote on October 14, 2022 at 3:22 AM

But how do you assess or evaluate these two situations:

A small family business. A fruit stand, an auto mechanic shop, etc. Of you do not allow a parent to pass that to a child who wants to continue the business then you cannot really benefit "the community" by taking it away. In fact, in many cases the community is worse off for the loss of the business.

In the second situation you have two people who earn the same in their lifetimes. One spends everything as quickly as they earn it. The other lives more modestly, saving some for old age. But when the second one dies you take what they saved. In that case you are strongly reinforcing people to spend and not save. I do not think that helps a society.

The final problem I see with your no-inheritence approach is the parent who dies prematurely, leaving minor children behind. It is not a benefit to anyone to leave the children with nothing pecause the parent died.

seedanrun t1_is96hxn wrote on October 14, 2022 at 5:29 AM

You've actually got a really good point.

If I knew the government was going to take all my Dad's cash I would help him blow every last penny before he died. Word vacations, on-site massages, and 100% Door-Dash eating until we burn it all away.