Criticism
In his later work, The Examined Life, Nozick reflects that entitlement theory's defense of people's holdings may have some problems, in that it could eventually lead to the vast majority of resources being pooled in the hands of the extremely skilled, or, through gifts and inheritance, in the hands of the extremely skilled's friends and children. Nozick says
- "Bequeathing something to others is an expression of caring about them .. yet bequests sometimes passed on for generations to persons unknown to the original earner, .. producing continuing inequalities of wealth and position. .. The resulting inequalities seem unfair.
- One possible solution would be to restructure an institution of inheritance so that taxes will subtract from the possessions people can bequeath the value of what they themselves have received through bequests. People then could leave to others only the amount they themselves have added.
- The simple subtraction rule does not perfectly disentangle what the next generation has managed itself to contribute - inheriting wealth may make it easier to amass more - but it is a serviceable rule of thumb" (Nozick 1989:30-31).
Furthermore, the notion of taxation being inherently unjust, and market transactions being inherently just, depends on the notion that they actually are as voluntary or involuntary as they appear: in a nation that permits free emigration of its citizens, taxation is not entirely involuntary, while market transactions for necessary goods and services can hardly be said to be entirely voluntary, and if the wealthy, or organized labor, or those in control of de facto industry standards are able to exert undue influence on such a market, they frequently skew those transactions to favor their own interests.
Read more about this topic: Entitlement Theory
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