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Current Events » in reply to Who cares about motives? It's their money.

the estate tax
Robert — (archived)

The estate tax doesn't really tell the wealthy how to spend their money. It encourages them to give it to charity, but it doesn't direct which charities. The traditional response is to do what Gates and Buffet are doing, set up a foundation which spends the money in accordance with their wishes.

That sounds ideal when you consider that Conservatives view government social programs as "coercive charity", and loudly proclaim that if it weren't for the coercive aspect they'd cheerfully voluntarily take up the slack with private charity. The estate tax is consistent with what Conservatives say they would do.

Would Conservatives really donate more to charity if it weren't for government social programs? I seriously doubt it. I think the combination of opposition to government social spending coupled with opposition to things like the estate tax that encourage personal social spending tells the true story: It's about the essential cheapness of Conservatives. It's simply about money and the belief of Conservatives that wealth is above morality. It's about denying the morally-obvious proposition that great wealth brings great responsibility.

A second rationale for the estate tax is to discourage the formation of "dynastic fortunes". Buffet has gone on record as agreeing with that rationale, and no doubt would have broken up his fortune even without the estate tax. But for every wise Buffet there are a thousand greedheads how would do anything to hang on to their dynastic fortunes, to the general detriment of society.

Does Buffet's opinion count? Well, if you think that great wealth is a sign of great merit, then the opinion of people like Gates and Buffet should matter a great deal. They're the #1 and #2 experts on issues concerning the wealthy, and if they say that dynastic fortunes are bad and that using wealth to do good in the world is a good idea, who are the rest of us to argue?

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