I'm not sure that stopping people from inheriting wealth will be good for the natural world. I think there's a huge variety amongst high net worth individuals in terms of what they do with their money. Some ordinary middle class people value their cars enormously and, you know, shine them and keep them beautiful. And others don't. So I think if you're advocating, getting rid of concentrations of wealth, you're infringing on people's liberty to do what they want with their money without necessarily doing the good things that you want to do - end war, save nature and create more equal society.
Some of the richest people in the world have decided against bequeathing their fortunes to their children; from Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to Daniel Craig and Michael Sheen. The proponents of this view offer many arguments, including the idea that inheriting huge wealth can detrimentally impact children, distorting anything they might do with their life. They also argue that the wealthy are morally obliged to give most, or all, of their wealth away to effective causes – children, or no children.
Nonetheless, historically, the vast majority of parents have decided to hand down their wealth to their children, believing it will help rather than harm them.
In this episode, three leading thinkers come together to debate the motion ‘The kindest thing a parent can do for their child is to leave them nothing.’ Utilitarian philosopher Professor Peter Singer champions the moral imperative for the wealthy to give to the global poor; Julia Davies, a member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, advocates for a wealth tax, arguing that it should not be down to the rich to decide whether – and how – to give their wealth away; and author and academic Adrian Wooldridge argues that wealthy individuals are a net positive for society. Expertly moderated by journalist and broadcaster Kamal Ahmed, this conversation is a thought-provoking insight into one of the biggest decisions any parent has to make.
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