~It’s contrary to the spirit of capitalism, where each person earns his or her own way.
~This is just in-family welfare.
~Why should the children of wealthy parents win the lottery while the children of poor parents get punished for their parents.
~This would allow children to truly live on their own merits.
~In fact, what we ought to do is provide a 100,000 stake to each person at the age of 18 out of all the proceeds raised from creating a total inheritance tax. That would be both fair and also an excellent equalizing opportunity for everyone.
~The children of wealthy people are spoiled by having the money.
~Look at the prodigal son.
~The children of people who earn a lot of wealth consistently lose it because they are given everything. Depriving their parents of the chance to spoil them this way is a very loving thing.
~If you know you aren’t going to be getting it, there is no family squabble about who gets what and how much.
~Also, there’d be no fakery and lying about how you feel toward potentially wealthy people.
~The consumption of people trying to die broke would be great for the economy.
~“I’m spending my children’s inheritance” would go from being a noxious bumper sticker to being excellent for the GNP.
~If you’re dead, how can you have any claim to how the stuff gets disposed?
~Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell everything he had and give it to the poor. Why should we do any differently?
~Contributions to charity will be much higher. One of the reasons charities have taken a fairly quiet role in this debate is they know a large portion of their funds come directly from people trying to avoid giving the money to the government.
~The rich/poor gap is inherently unfair and disastrous to covetousness and envy.
~Democracy totally depends on equality, and when you have entrenched financial interests, you become an oligarchy or an economic aristocracy rather than a democracy.
~God owns it all anyway. If the government wants to take it, so be it. Render unto Caesars’s, right?
~How is letting them have the joy of earning it a poor preparation for Christianity?
~How tempting is it for parents to use inheritance as a form of control and coercion?
~How does knowing it’s coming affect your life decisions? You know there’s a vast safety net over you.
~Similarity to affirmative action? You never know for sure if it was you or if it was your lucky parentage. And no one else knows, either. But everyone assumes the worst.
Bible references: Gen 25:24-34, Num 27:1-11, Num 36:1-13, Ecc 7:11-12, Prov 13:22, Luke 15:11-32, 1 Peter 1:1-5
Links on inheritance:
Inheritance, Inheritance Tax at the State Level by Wikipedia
Should Kids Be Left Fortunes, Or Left Out? by USA Today
Should You Leave It All To The Children? by CNN.com
Estate Taxes: An Historical Perspective by Gary Robbins at Heritage Foundation
Now Is (Still) The Time To Repeal The Estate Tax by William Beach at Heritage Foundation
The Economics Of The Estate Tax by Joint Economic Committee of Congress
Estate Tax Repeal: Costly Windfall For The Wealthiest by Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Grave Robbers: The Moral Case Against The Death Tax by Edward McCaffery at Cato Institute
Long Live The Estate Tax by Bill Gates Sr. and Chuck Collins at The Nation
Estate Tax Debate Hinges On Money, Morality at Christian Science Monitor
Latest News On The Estate Tax at FairEconomy.org
United For A Fair Economy by FairEconomy.org
Choking On The Silver Spoon by Bookmasters.com
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