Is this a philosophical question? I'm sure we can imagine a scenario that a son's contribution to family wealth is greater than his father's. We can also imagine a scenario that the son squanders the whole lot.
Capital management is not a trivial task. Successful management of great sums requires great skill and attention. The world is fraught with dangers when handling a fortune.
As an aside: America is not a meritocracy. It's a dynamic, imperfect system, often described as a presidential republic, and we're constantly rewriting the rules of the game.
What a great person should yearn for is opportunity - access to capital need not be inherited. I think we should strive to empower our best people with capital resources appropriate to their level of skill and experience. I don't think the government is the best mechanism for choosing who those managers should be, but I think it should definitely have a role in making sure the game is fair.
Capital management is not a trivial task. Successful management of great sums requires great skill and attention. The world is fraught with dangers when handling a fortune.
As an aside: America is not a meritocracy. It's a dynamic, imperfect system, often described as a presidential republic, and we're constantly rewriting the rules of the game.
What a great person should yearn for is opportunity - access to capital need not be inherited. I think we should strive to empower our best people with capital resources appropriate to their level of skill and experience. I don't think the government is the best mechanism for choosing who those managers should be, but I think it should definitely have a role in making sure the game is fair.