Making Better Sense of Our Differences
Dear Mike,
Amazing. We've found important legislative reform we can both sign onto. (Even if it's not, perhaps, to either of our mutual self-interests!) Make inheritance taxes more draconian—enough to ease the way so that children don't go cold turkey from riches to rags, but severe enough so that they don't start miles ahead. It still won't be "fair"—since by the time their parents die they'll already be well ahead on their way to the finish line on that imagined racing track. But it has the practical advantage of directing more funds to lessening, by even a little, that awful gap between the haves and have-nots. A little closer to requiring everyone to start somewhat closer to the same starting line.
Meanwhile, we might also work at changing the metaphor itself—life as a race.
Actually, what we're hoping for when we make our wills is that we've provided a safety net for the ones we love when we can no longer do so directly. That safety net I believe is a great idea for everyone. Yes, it deprives a few people each generation of the opportunity to pull themselves up from nothing—without help—by their own bootstraps. I'm prepared to say goodbye to that
