Maybe a Universal Basic Capital Endowment of (say $100,000) at age 18 and some kind of small, guaranteed ($500/month?) retirement income after working age (65yr?), would serve society better. It could be used to cover college, start a business, some technical training, or invested for income or growth. This endowment event would be a good signal for the transition to adulthood and give imputes to society and parents to prepare children to be ready to control and look after a large chunk of capital.
It is unarguable that the super-wealthy should use their wealth to the benefit of society. I disagree with the author's belief that direct aid is the best method to accomplish this. There is a massive amount of data indicating that direct aid in poor nations builds dependency while not fixing the underlying causes of the poverty. I don't think the dynamics of direct aid are going to be markedly different in the united states. In my opinion, the best way to help people is to fix the underlying system that is holding them back. From this perspective, political mobilization efforts and working to sway public opinion in favor of better policy is absolutely the smart way to spend your money.
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