[closeparen]

Toqueville considered America fundamentally structured to prevent the emergence of aristocratic families, not because of anything to do with taxes, but because fortunes are distributed among all the children and thus naturally dissipate. As opposed to old world system of giving all to the first-born son.

[iammisc]

And he's mostly right. Americans are uniquely unable to stay rich for many generations. Most generational wealth in america disappears after a few generations.

In my comment history, you'll find a few comments about the issue of couples having fewer and fewer children.

Toqueville's points work so long as people have on average, more than two kids. With the decline in birth rate, we risk descending into primogeniture by attrition, which is terrible.