by Toledo Steel
“By the sweat of your brow” – how true this has turned out to be to give your life meaning. Having the freedom to be competitive in the (mostly) free market and creating your own wealth to support yourself and your family is the way to go. This comes with responsibility and is full of challenges. Those who succeed have a fulfilling life, those that not are the ones crying for socialism instead of trying to better themselves.
But there is a catch. The playing field in the capitalist arena is not quite level.
If you were born into wealth you obviously have a clear advantage over the ones born into middle class. You will have “perks” and support others will not have. Some of these elite families or should I say bloodlines have amassed staggering amounts of wealth and resources over millennia and pass this on to their next generations.
Today all meaningful resources like arable land and fresh water are in the hands of elite controlled governments and NGO´s – this is hardly disputable.
So what to do? Raise extra taxes on those super rich and powerful? I do not think that’s a good idea. What then?
Maybe a solution to level the playing field would be a forfeiture of all assets upon death. No passing on to next generations – no titles by inheritance.
After you die all your assets go to a government body that will sell them off (by auction) and inject the proceeds back into the economy for social incentives like grants for small businesses, welfare etc.
Do not mistake this as some weird form of communism – on the contrary – you have played the game and enjoyed your riches to the max but you are now dead. Also to prevent dumping all your assets before you die during life you may not give more than 1% a year of your assets to others (tax exempt). Yes, this includes land.
What will this achieve? If you are a good parent you will be extra motivated to instruct and guide your offspring and they will be truly self made for one thing. The place you are born into becomes exponentially less significant. More incentive to make it on your own. The ones that truly need help get more state support. And last but not least – it breaks the elite strongholds.
As technology advances humans are gradually being replaced by automatons with ever increasing AI. It will become increasingly more difficult to make a decent living in the coming decades. With this more incentives and opportunities can be created for anyone and even some form of UBI that will replace all other forms of welfare could be considered.
So think about it.