And I think that inheritance, while a natural desire, is morally wrong. It's an example that desires aren't always congruent with morality. People will go to great lengths to justify their conclusion.
And I think that inheritance, while a natural desire, is morally wrong. It's an example that desires aren't always congruent with morality. People will go to great lengths to justify their conclusion.
Are gifts morally wrong? If I'm near death is it wrong for to give my assets to my children beforehand, or does it only become immoral if done via a will?
Yes. I get the desire, but gifts of wealth when done at scale contribute to the destruction of society. Quantity is a quality all its own.
> while a natural desire
Or look at monarchies and titles of nobility. In the past direct inheritance of political assets was common, and acting on that natural desire, the people involve claimed that parents deserved to direct what they (and their ancestors) had accumulated on to the next generation of their own family.
Yet nowadays most countries and people have decided it is immoral, and they also took steps to make common forms of it extremely illegal.
My point is that economic inheritance today is just as much a social-construct as political inheritance was then. It exists because we permit it to exist, don't be fooled by anyone claiming it's an intrinsic law of the universe or a divine mandate by god that must be obeyed.
I think if we're saying inheritance (at least beyond some point) is morally wrong, then we're really just saying that achieving a certain level of wealth is morally wrong. So deal with that directly, rather than putting your hand in someone's wallet after he dies.
That is dealing with it directly.
If I had diabetes, taking insulin is an acceptable remedy even if there is no cure for diabetes.