Lewis Goodall Calls For Communism

If you haven’t heard of Lewis Goodall, he is one of the new brand of idiot leftists poisoning our media with insane ideas. Earlier this year, Rachel Reeves called for increasing inheritance tax on British farmers, something that would put them out of business, that is designed to put them out of business.

Last month, Goodall went one step further, he wants inheritance tax to be increased not only on farmers but on all of us, and he wants it increased to 100%. Yes, that’s right, he wants the state to confiscate everything you own after you die, which begs the question will it take even the money you have set aside for your funeral?

In practice, that would mean in two generations, three at most, the state would own everything. There is a word for that: communism. How did that work out for Russia, China, Cambodia?

Goodall doesn’t appear to be a communist, but whether or not he realises it, he is one.

In support of this proposition, he cites what he calls some uncomfortable facts:

“The top 10% of UK households hold 57% of all wealth, while the bottom 50% own less than 5%.

The top 1% alone controls 23% of wealth

Inheritances are soaring: projected to double from £100bn a year (2020) to £200bn by 2040”

It remains to be seen if these figures are accurate, though clearly there are some extremely wealthy people in our society, but as Donald Trump said three decades and more ago, this is a bad thing because?

Assuming these figures are accurate though, is it really so terrible for the top 10% to own nearly two thirds of society’s assets? How much worse would thing be if the state owned them all? Then anytime you stepped out of line, you could be crushed like the ants Lewis Goodall and his kind think you are.

If the top 1% does control (own) 23% of the wealth, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing either. The reason goods and services can be delivered relatively cheaply today is because of economies of scale. To take just one example, the Heinz company (now Kraft Heinz), produces more than three million cans of food at its Wigan plant every day. The investment required for that is staggering. The original Heinz company was founded by Henry Heinz in 1869 but went bankrupt 6 years later. It was not until 1888 that it was revitalised, and 1900 before it was incorporated.

The growth of Heinz is not untypical. How many start-ups would grow to a fraction of that size if its founders were not permitted to pass on their wealth? And how much more expensive would be your baked beans on toast?

Again, if the state were to take over all our businesses, how much real wealth would actually be generated, and who would lay claim to it?

Here is a cute anecdote from the last century:

A Western delegation goes to see a Soviet factory. They ask, “who owns it?”

“The workers” is the reply.

There are two cars in the parking lot. The delegation asks who owns these cars.

“The director and the deputy” is the reply.

Then the Soviet delegation goes to visit a Western factory. They ask who owns it.

“Henry Ford” they are told.

The parking lot is full of cars and the obviously confused Soviet delegation asks, “who owns all these cars?”

“The workers” is the reply.

In this article, we have not touched on the contributions the wealthy make to charitable and other good causes, nor to the organisations they fund to fight state over-reach. This short video highlights two American businessmen - both of them black, incidentally - who were victims of a corrupt practice - so-called civil asset forfeiture. They both got their money back eventually, thanks to a non-profit. Non-profits are typically funded by the ultra-wealthy. How many such non-profits would there be if inheritance tax were 100%? And how many businessmen - black or otherwise - would even own their vehicles?