San Diego, California Talk Radio Station - 760 KFMB AM - 760kfmb... a free exercise of his industry, and the fruits acquired by it

A couple of points brought up today:

CNN's Fareed Zakaria wants a 50% inheritance tax in America. Why? Not to raise revenue. But "because nothing is more un-American than an inherited elite that perpetuates itself."

Fareed, few things. First, in a capitalist system, poor people can become very rich through hard work and great ideas. Rockefeller, Carnegie, Astor, Venderbuilt and Montgomery Ward all came from extremely humble beginnings to become the richest men in the world. Same with Steve Jobs and other rich people of today. But the flip side of that, in a capitalist system, very rich people can quickly become very poor through laizness and terrible ideas. There is no "inherited elite that perpetuates itself" in America. Someone who inhereits a lot of money is just as able to lose it all as someone with no money is able to make it. And if someone who inhereits a ton of money uses it to start a new business, who cares? That's better for everyone.

But more than that, what gives the government any right to take your money after you die? As Thomas Jefferson said in 1816:

"To take from one, because it is thought that his own industry and that of his father's has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association—the guarantee to every one of a free exercise of his industry, and the fruits acquired by it."

http://media.worldnow.com/kfmbam/podcast/the_mike_slater_show_5779.mp3

This ties in to what we talked about at the end of the 6:00 hour. When someone says "the poor are getting poorer" in the words of Steven Horwitz, they're ignoring the fact that "the people who were poor in one year ARE NOT THE SAME PEOPLE WHO ARE POOR IN THE LATER YEAR!" Please CLICK HERE to see the data so we can move on from this progressive talking point and instead focus on what's really important: maintaining a country with high income mobility.

(Segment starts at 6:48)

http://media.worldnow.com/kfmbam/podcast/the_mike_slater_show_5779.mp3

And finally, moving money around is not the same as creating wealth:

http://media.worldnow.com/kfmbam/podcast/the_mike_slater_show_5781.mp3