There are no titles of nobility in America, but one wouldn’t necessarily know that, by the fact that more and more of the wealth in America is being concentrated into ever fewer hands, and of which, a substantial portion of that wealth, is thereby subsequently inherited by the progeny of these wealthy families; thereby, signifying that in America, that this isn’t really a land of fairness, equality of opportunity, justice, or anything of that sort; but rather America represents far too often a construct in which the very wealthy are able to pass on quite successfully all the advantages of that wealth to those that have been fortunate enough to be have been born into those families of wealth and status.
We read at inequality.net, that “Wealth managers have pointed to a substantial intergenerational transfer of wealth, recently estimated at $68 trillion, as baby boomers pass on wealth to the next generations.” No doubt, any good family should have a strong desire to pass on their good name as well as their good ethics, and to the degree that they are so able, to also pass on some portion of their monetary wealth as a means to be of aid and of value to their progeny. The problem though, is when that wealth is concentrated ever tighter among a separate elite of Americans, then, the very principles of the governance of this nation, are subject to being compromised, if they have not already been compromised, by that extreme concentration of that wealth. As much as people so desire to believe that the most important issues of the day are voted upon, or legislated upon, in which everything is on the up-and-up and fair, the reality of the situation tells us, that whatever agency has the deepest pockets and the right connections, typically gets their way, instead.
There isn’t any doubt that money and status absolutely matters, and when that money and status is fundamentally held in the hands of privileged people and institutions that are in their way, above the claims of the common people, then we do so find that in America, we don’t have a meaningful democracy at all; but rather we have a nation that is run by a dynasty of those that have power, privilege, and money, which apparently has no end, because these people and those institutions are permitted through their undue influence, to pass on a huge portion of that wealth, position, and implicit power to those that they have earmarked to have those funds.
While it certainly is true, that the government does not deserve all of a given person’s wealth, upon their death, that government certainly deserves a meaningful portion, so of; for while these people were among the living, they were permitted to utilize what was theirs, for whatever purposes and desires that they so wanted. But one would think, that death, should change something of that construct, and of which, we so know, that the most important inheritance for a given individual, should be the value of what it so means to be a good American, a good citizen, of good wisdom and of good virtue. On the other hand, when privileged people inherit boatloads of money, but lack wisdom and virtue, then for a certainty, one will see what we so presently see, which is a dynasty that cares only about their own and is motivated to maintain or augment such, by any means necessary.