“Historic process”: Heir to millions lets citizens decide about their assets

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An unusual citizens’ assembly has started in Austria: 50 women and men met for the first time this weekend in Salzburg to decide in the coming months how 25 million euros from the assets of 31-year-old heiress Marlene Engelhorn will be distributed for the general public should be. The German-Austrian social activist initiated this social experiment herself.

However, Engelhorn does not get involved in the discussions about how the money is spent. “I have no influence on the outcome,” she told the German news agency shortly before the trial began. The millionaire heiress sees her action as a pioneering act to strengthen democracy. “No one should imagine that their own comfort zone is more important than the good life for everyone,” she said.

Heterogeneous group from all walks of life

10,000 people aged 16 and over in Austria were approached as possible participants for the specially established “Good Advice for Redistribution”. Nearly 1,500 people showed their interest. Ultimately, 50 were selected to be representative, so that people from all age groups, income levels, education levels and regions were represented. The group was “very heterogeneous”, but members approached each other very positively, Alexandra Wang, project manager for the municipality, told dpa on Sunday. “This is a historic process,” she said. “Everyone feels this energy.”

A plan for distributing the money will be drawn up over six weekends in June. However, this Saturday and Sunday no specific projects were in the foreground. With the help of moderators, fundamental questions about social and fiscal justice were first tackled: how does the distribution of wealth affect society, politics and the climate?

“It’s not a wild charity campaign like I would choose any NGO, but it’s really a big system relief,” says Engelhorn. She herself advocates the reintroduction of wealth and inheritance taxes in Austria. This would likely generate billions of dollars that could be used to fund basic care for children, the heiress says.

Engelhorn describes himself as someone who won the “birth lottery.”

The “Good Council” can largely decide freely. However, there are restrictions: the millions cannot be spent on “unconstitutional, anti-life or inhumane” purposes, Wang said. Investments in profit-oriented companies and in the council members’ own pockets are also taboo. However, members receive 1200 euros per weekend. Engelhorn provided them with another three million euros for organization, travel, accommodation and childcare.

The money comes from a transfer from Engelhorn’s grandmother. The heiress comes from a wealthy industrial family that sold the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Mannheim to the Swiss group Roche in the 1990s. The heiress considers herself a “very privileged student” of German studies who won the “birth lottery”.

Their campaign differs from donations from millionaires and billionaires because giving money should be in the hands of society and not in the hands of individuals, Engelhorn says. She keeps a certain amount of money for herself to ease her transition into professional life, says Engelhorn, who can imagine a job with a sociopolitical aspect. But she is still embedded in a wealthy family and in a very good network. “My privileges will support me even after the redistricting,” the 31-year-old said. (SDA)

Source: Blick