(October 10, 2012 at 4:25 pm)Tino Wrote: Our unalienable rights in the US include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If Romney's pursuit of happiness includes leaving a very large inheritance to his heirs, then it is his business, not anyone else's. I don't want to give up my rights in this area, and I don't want anyone else judging what is right for me. If we did I'm sure there would be lots of people with opinions on all sorts of things, like whether parents with three kids should be able to be completely comfortable and secure with, oh let me pick a number out of thin air here, two kids, and give the other kid to some couple who find themselves infertile. No thanks.
Yet, we've legislated that we can pursue life, liberty and happiness, as long as it doesn't infringe on other's same rights. I argue that hoarding one's wealth and keeping it in the family does a disservice to those receiving that inheritance. Also, let's pick on the Waltons this time (founding family of Wal*Mart, worth somewhere in the ballpark of $7 billion), how much better would the public school system of Arkansas be if Sam had left much of his fortune to the betterment of the public schools of his home state? And by extension, how many children and families would have benefited from this generosity?
How many kids one has is a very different matter than what one should do with one's wealth upon death. Progeny is not wealth, though some love their wealth (or pursuit thereof) more than their progeny. Once a person amasses a certain level of wealth, it's simply ridiculous, greedy, and inhuman to not help those less fortunate.
