Are you advocating for all children being anonymized and raised in orphanages? Or a 100% inheritance tax? Or just expressing disappointment at your own relative lack of wealthy & famous recent ancestors?
Are you advocating for all children being anonymized and raised in orphanages? Or a 100% inheritance tax? Or just expressing disappointment at your own relative lack of wealthy & famous recent ancestors?
I'm advocating for all children to be given a fair shot at life. How do you suggest we achieve that as a society? Or is that too much to ask, in your view?
My father has a wonderful collection of model trains. It’s rather valuable in money. I have been playing with his trains since I was a young boy. Good memories.
Are you telling me that if I can’t afford to pay the state the full value of that train set, the trains will go to a government auction?
This is already law. If you gift someone your $100M mansion, they pay income taxes instead of inheritance taxes. And income taxes are higher (in that bracket).
Depending on what motivations are, separate controlling interest from personal wealth, at least above some reasonable limit.
Obviously easier said than done, but unless the predominant incentive for everyone is just to generate more wealth for themselves/relatives/etc, other existing incentives should be sufficient to invest.
If you were a normal man and a father a large part of your mental space would be filled with trying creating value that could outlast you, for your family.
The fact that this is so foreign to you means you that an idea of "inheritance" is something that happens to other - bad - people, not a gift that you could be making.
If you were a normal man and a father a large part of your mental space would be filled with trying creating value that could outlast you, for your family.
As a father, a large part of my mental space is filled with making sure my kids grow up to be good human beings, a credit to themselves, and are capable of making their own way through life independently.
I have personally seen how expectations of, and inheritances, hollow out people and families, morally bankrupt otherwise good people, and would not wish that scourge upon my own kids.
Would you say that both "the kind of people they are" and "passing something on to them" are important? I feel they are. Eg if I can leave a house or a business to my kids, that's better than not. Agree raising great humans is primary.
Would you say that both "the kind of people they are" and "passing something on to them" are important?
"passing something on to them" is only needed if they fail at life. If they are successful in life why would they need anything beyond keepsakes/memories?
Leaving something to someone you love is a common human motivation, from a father in building a business that he hopes the son continues to run, to a poor woman who punched pennies her whole life only to leave millions to her grandkids.
Answering a "why would" here is a little tough, like conveying to someone "why would you want to make love to a woman" or "why would you bother to have a family" to someone who doesn't get it.
The question is why wouldn't you? I love my kids I want to do maximally for them.
There's absolutely nothing ideal about being unable to give the things you worked for to your loved ones when you die. It's incredibly callous and devoid of compassion to do that to people.
Comments
Are you advocating for all children being anonymized and raised in orphanages? Or a 100% inheritance tax? Or just expressing disappointment at your own relative lack of wealthy & famous recent ancestors?
I'm advocating for all children to be given a fair shot at life. How do you suggest we achieve that as a society? Or is that too much to ask, in your view?
100% inheritance tax would be ideal, but it's never going to happen in practice.
My father has a wonderful collection of model trains. It’s rather valuable in money. I have been playing with his trains since I was a young boy. Good memories.
Are you telling me that if I can’t afford to pay the state the full value of that train set, the trains will go to a government auction?
Yes? Why would you deserve free money?
So if his father gives him the trains before death, it's fine, but at or after is not? Fun times ahead!
Also the value of model trains and the selling price are highly different numbers.
This is already law. If you gift someone your $100M mansion, they pay income taxes instead of inheritance taxes. And income taxes are higher (in that bracket).
That won't change.
Turn that around, though: Why would the state deserve 100% of my stuff, just because I died? Why can't I dispose of it as I see fit?
That's incredibly fucked up and heartless.
You should be expropriated. Why would you deserve property?
I think real estate and capital shouldn't be in the same category personal items are in. As a society we often conflate them but we shouldn't.
Remove the greatest incentive for long term investment, what could go wrong?
What are some of our greatest long term investments? I can think of a few: The national parks, university system, Federal Reserve, NIH...
"you can't just abolish nepotism, that's tantamount to abolishing capitalism!"
yes
"People bequeathing their own property is literally nepotism" - Tankies and their idols Stalin, Mao, and Kim Jong Un
I think Kim might have benefited from a little himself
RNG green username has -1 total karma as I post this
Depending on what motivations are, separate controlling interest from personal wealth, at least above some reasonable limit.
Obviously easier said than done, but unless the predominant incentive for everyone is just to generate more wealth for themselves/relatives/etc, other existing incentives should be sufficient to invest.
This is such a tell.
If you were a normal man and a father a large part of your mental space would be filled with trying creating value that could outlast you, for your family.
The fact that this is so foreign to you means you that an idea of "inheritance" is something that happens to other - bad - people, not a gift that you could be making.
As a father, a large part of my mental space is filled with making sure my kids grow up to be good human beings, a credit to themselves, and are capable of making their own way through life independently.
I have personally seen how expectations of, and inheritances, hollow out people and families, morally bankrupt otherwise good people, and would not wish that scourge upon my own kids.
Would you say that both "the kind of people they are" and "passing something on to them" are important? I feel they are. Eg if I can leave a house or a business to my kids, that's better than not. Agree raising great humans is primary.
"passing something on to them" is only needed if they fail at life. If they are successful in life why would they need anything beyond keepsakes/memories?
Leaving something to someone you love is a common human motivation, from a father in building a business that he hopes the son continues to run, to a poor woman who punched pennies her whole life only to leave millions to her grandkids.
Answering a "why would" here is a little tough, like conveying to someone "why would you want to make love to a woman" or "why would you bother to have a family" to someone who doesn't get it.
The question is why wouldn't you? I love my kids I want to do maximally for them.
There's absolutely nothing ideal about being unable to give the things you worked for to your loved ones when you die. It's incredibly callous and devoid of compassion to do that to people.