The enemy is aristocracy, always has been, always will be, no matter how it's clad. That's why whenever I hear a friend say they're building "generational wealth" as a*virtue* I always wince, no matter how well-intentioned they are. - ThreadSky

johnrogers.bsky.social • 421 days ago

The enemy is aristocracy, always has been, always will be, no matter how it's clad. That's why whenever I hear a friend say they're building "generational wealth" as a*virtue* I always wince, no matter how well-intentioned they are.

Reposted from Meredith Shiner

I will never for the rest of my life forget when the grandson of the founder of Motorola came up to me in high school and said "How does it feel?" and I said, "Excuse me?" And he said "How does it feel to know you worked so hard and finished at the top of our class but I'm the one going to Harvard?"

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eilatan.bsky.social•421 days ago

That shit grows a-grade assholes.

ringslinger.bsky.social•421 days ago

I feel you, but I also think "That's the game". We've been trying to beat it into the the ground for hundreds of years and it just keeps winning. Century after century.

johnrogers.bsky.social•421 days ago

Well, yeah, but sometimes people fall for it when it changes shape, or we trick ourselves into thinking "well no, not OUR society." It's useful to keep as a fixed point.

prankster36.bsky.social•421 days ago

The fact that it's shifted shape so many times is crucial, I think. Society evolves, maybe they evolve with it, but I'm not sure they can keep it up forever. It was born out of "this one bloodline is touched by God" and that's become a harder and harder sell

johnrogers.bsky.social•421 days ago

The transformation from”touched by God” to a frame of secular virtue, be it “breeding” or “meritocracy” is key to its resilience. Inherited wealth and the power that system brings is the spine, the skin can morph around it.

daveanthony.bsky.social•421 days ago

All I heard you say was 1917 Russia lets go.

johnrogers.bsky.social•421 days ago

This is your gift.

noahbrand.bsky.social•421 days ago

I've heard a ton of people in this century making pre-Enlightenment arguments about how the bastards in control are *supposed* to be in control. They just swapped out "the divine right of kings" with "the wisdom of the market".

prankster36.bsky.social•421 days ago

There are definitely people out there with Medieval Peasant Brain but my thing is that the Divine Right of Kings is unfalsifiable and based entirely on vibes, whereas even the most cultish framing of meritocracy/The Market links it to Doing Things. You're eventually going to notice it doesn't work.

prankster36.bsky.social•421 days ago

Oh yeah. But they have to bend it further and further away from the original justification and it becomes more and more nakedly exposed as "these people are just born better than you", a thing that ultimately people are finding harder to digest.

prankster36.bsky.social•421 days ago

This is probably why the goal seems to be a dumber populace, but I don't think you can put that genie back in the bottle.

kedwards.bsky.social•421 days ago

Not really because what is the prosperity gospel but “chosen by god” dressed up as a self help bullet point? A not insignificant number of people in the UsS believe that wealth is an outward sign of virtue, mostly because this economic form of Calvinism has been promoted by the aristocracy.

prankster36.bsky.social•421 days ago

Well yeah, exactly--they have to keep dressing it up in ways that stretch it further and further from its original point. Remember, the "born special" aspect is now strained by the idea that the 3rd generation layabouts are somehow worthier than you, the guy who works hard

prankster36.bsky.social•421 days ago

I get what you're saying but the enlightenment and the rise of democracy as a virtue threw monkey wrenches in this for a reason, they've been scrambling to find ideological workarounds ever since

johnrogers.bsky.social•421 days ago

Whenever we stomp it out, it comes back in a new. apparently friendlier disguise. Meritocracy was the last one, I'm sure you can think of a few variations.

countmystars.bsky.social•421 days ago

My (well-off suburbanite) roommates had a conversation in my presence about generational wealth in terms of owning homes for future generations to inherit and I (generationally poor and rural) nearly blew a fuse.

kithrup.bsky.social•421 days ago

I am curious, but if you don't want to answer I shan't press: what, if any, exemption do you think there should be on inheritances?

johnrogers.bsky.social•421 days ago

There is a middle ground reasonable people can agree upon.

kithrup.bsky.social•421 days ago

That's where I am -- as I said, I was curious. Thank you!

drmikewiser.bsky.social•421 days ago

This gets at the heart of the matter. A whole lot of people who are opposed to the aristocracy are highly in favor of giving gifts to their children / grandchildren. And I fully expect that making more estates subject to taxation would result in more distributions during lifetime to circumvent it.

johnrogers.bsky.social•421 days ago

The tax the transfers past a certain amount. We have those limits in place now, the problems are the loopholes, not the concept.

drmikewiser.bsky.social•421 days ago

Yes. But details matter. An overwhelming majority will agree with a sentiment of "tax the rich". But their definition of rich is nearly always some version of "people who make a good amount more than I do".

johnrogers.bsky.social•421 days ago

Of course details matter. But we’re not going to settle them on a social media platform.

kithrup.bsky.social•421 days ago

The thing is, that's still really the case -- with the current exemption at something over a megabuck, that means that only a literal handful of estates are taxed.

johnrogers.bsky.social•421 days ago

My wife and I, combined, have an estate exemption of over 10 million (it may be more). That is insane.

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