History Now!: Unjust Gifts

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Inheritance is paradoxical. We live in a meritocracy that strives for social balance. However, “unearned money” is inherited, and quite a lot to very few. How does this fit in with social justice in a democratic society? And why were even capitalists once fierce critics of heredity?

Even in ancient times, people inherited their property after death. But in the Middle Ages, inheritance became a religious magic word that linked the past with a vision of the future: Christians were seen as the heirs of Jesus with the prospect of an eternal paradise in the afterlife. To make the great promise of salvation work, you can help with an earthly inheritance. Therefore, penniless monks seeking monastic sponsors protested that those who bequeathed their wealth to the church should have a safe place in heaven.

Inheritance also concerned status and power. Nobles passed on titles and political positions to the next generation. And the dowry provided the daughters of a powerful husband—a sort of early legacy for the marriage politics of the wealthy. The social hierarchy was also reproduced at the bottom of society: the slaves passed on their own lack of freedom to their descendants.

With the Age of Enlightenment came the hereditary reformers: their creed is no money without work. For liberal thinkers like Adam Smith, economics mattered most: wealth eluded the free market as lazy rich heirs saved their money. Karl Marx considered heirs simply unfair. Socialists and capitalists agreed: inheritance must be prohibited!

But no one dared to approach the family, the sacred cow of modernity. Working for cute kids and keeping property safe and sound from generation to generation is actually a relic of those times when nobles and clergy still ruled the world.

After all, many states introduced inheritance taxes in the 19th century, primarily to fund their military forces. But it has never been a sharp sword in the fight against social inequality. On the one hand, the inheritance tax has been bypassed since its inception – the key word is the family foundation, through which self-proclaimed benefactors defy democratic rules and shape society to their liking. On the other hand, the inheritance tax is too low and doesn’t really hurt anyone.

History shows that social justice and heirs are mutually exclusive. This is the problem of democratic states and their hopes for a just society. Inheritance tax can only mitigate this if it is significantly increased, and for everyone: first and with especially high rates for the super-rich, then for small and medium-sized enterprises in Switzerland, and finally for every homeowner.

Source: Blick