Podcast Summary: Doug Casey's Take – "Stop Leaving Your Money to People Who Hate You"

Date: November 28, 2025
Hosts: Matthew Smith & Doug Casey
Guest: Johan Kurtz, author of "Leaving a Legacy: Inheritance, Charity, and Thousand Year Families" and creator of the substack "Becoming Noble"

Overview

This episode dives into the contemporary controversy surrounding inheritance, focusing especially on the viral trend of wealthy parents disinheriting their children in favor of charity or ideological causes. Through a spirited conversation with author Johan Kurtz, the hosts examine why the tradition of passing down wealth is under attack, the philosophical and theological arguments for dynastic succession, and what practical steps families can take to build lasting legacies. Drawing from history, Christianity, and his extensive research, Kurtz offers a robust defense of inheritance and family continuity amid the decline of Western traditions.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Why the Book Was Written: Responding to a Social Trend

• Viral Disinheritance: Johan noticed a cultural trend—especially among celebrities—of publicly announcing that they would not leave their wealth to their children, but rather to charity, in the name of morality and supposed good for the child (00:53).
  • "They would frame this around this moral good that they weren't going to, you know, raise a Nepo baby... but they were going to give their money to philanthropy..." – Johan Kurtz [00:53]
• Underlying Outrage: While many objected, people lacked a coherent moral language to articulate why such disinheritance felt wrong (01:41).
• Kurtz’s Central Question: "Why should wealthy parents leave their wealth to their children and not to charity?" (01:45)

2. Societal and Historical Context

• The Missing Billionaires: Referencing "The Missing Billionaires" by Haganian White, Kurtz points out that if the wealthy in 1900 had passed down their assets, there would be 16,000 billionaires today instead of 700—implying most fortunes dissipate rather than endure (02:30).

3. Objections to Inheritance and Contemporary Attitudes

• Parental Self-Deception: Kurtz suggests parents may sense their children aren’t psychologically prepared for inheritance, drawing a parallel to the negative life outcomes seen among lottery winners (04:09).
• Rise of the Self-Made: Most of today's ultra-wealthy are first-generation; they lack longstanding family practices for wealth stewardship, defaulting instead to "cutting children loose" after giving them opportunity (04:54).
• Desire to Avoid “Nepo Babies”: Some parents want to avoid creating entitled heirs like some celebrity progeny, preferring education then independence (05:25).

4. Inheritance for the Not-So-Ultra-Wealthy

• Is this only for billionaires? No. Kurtz argues the rationale and practices of legacy apply to upper-middle-class families as well (07:12).
  • He critiques the idea of “spending down” wealth, even if justified by having “earned” retirement (07:12).

5. The Christian and Philosophical Case for Inheritance

• Stewardship Over Ownership: Johan proposes property should be understood as “dominion”—a trust and responsibility across generations—rather than absolute ownership (08:21).
  • "Instead of property, I prefer the term dominion, which is really a term that built the West..." – Johan Kurtz [09:14]
• Wealth as Blessing and Duty: Recognizing one’s blessings (talents, upbringing, societal peace) brings humility, obligation, and the sense that wealth is partly inherited from past generations and must pass on to the future (10:30–12:00).
• Christian Foundations: The book adopts a Christian frame for its arguments but by design is accessible to non-Christians (12:58).

6. Christianity and Wealth: Reconciling Contradictions

• Tension in Doctrine: Kurtz acknowledges the New Testament’s wariness of wealth but points to dignified uses of wealth (e.g., Joseph of Arimathea) and scriptural encouragement to leave a legacy (14:10–16:10).
  • "Wealth is certainly a temptation... but there is... a very traditional Christian idea which is... on the one hand it's a great risk and on the other hand it's this great commandment." – Johan Kurtz [15:00]

7. The Socio-Political Argument: Role of Elite Families

• Baldzell and the WASP Elite: Drawing on sociologist E. Digby Baltzell, Kurtz argues societies without multigenerational elites end up with a technocratic but shallow oligarchy: self-made men lack the cultural breadth to act as patrons of art, custodians of ethics, and builders of beauty (16:38–21:20).
  • Decline in beautiful architecture and art is tied to the loss of dynastic families (19:25).
  • "If you walk through an American city now, certainly if you walk through London, the most beautiful things around us tend to be those things that our ancestors have left..." – Johan Kurtz [19:25]

8. Philanthropy vs. Traditional Charity

• From Caritas to Philanthropy: Kurtz distinguishes between traditional Christian charity (local, personal, love-driven) and modern philanthropy (scientific, structural, impersonal), noting how the Gates Foundation, for example, acts as a quasi-government (22:23–24:47).
  • "Andrew Carnegie is a very interesting figure...founding figure in this notion of philanthropy as an activity which is distinct from charity..." – Johan Kurtz [22:23]

9. Cultural Decline, Education, and Elite Formation

• Corrupting Modern Institutions: Doug and Johan discuss how today’s elites too often rely on a corrupting educational system (public schools, universities), lacking tools to instill values, hence giving wealth to NGOs run by "the worst kind of people" (25:46–27:23).
  • "Maybe that's a reason why rich people today don't want to leave their money to their kids because they sense they've been corrupted..." – Doug [25:46]
• Historical Examples: The children of the 20th-century elite—sometimes becoming revolutionaries—often rejected their inherited privilege because their parents failed to tie wealth to responsibility and meaning (27:23–29:25).

10. The Art of Raising Children for Legacy

• Aristocratic Practices: Real multigenerational continuity starts with early, progressive assumption of responsibility, ritual, and education that tie identity to stewardship (31:38–33:31).
  • "It starts at a very young age...the gradual assumption of responsibility from a very young age over different parts of the estate..." – Johan Kurtz [31:49]
• Transcendence and Ritual: Ritual and family tradition (portraits, heirlooms, stories) give children a sense of being part of a living lineage, not isolated individuals. Illiquid assets (land, art, businesses) foster stewardship (33:31).

11. The Power of Ritual

• Role of Ritual: Drawing a parallel to Christmas and Santa Claus, the hosts observe that ritual creates a sense of wonder, identity, and breaks up mundanity for children and adults alike, binding families and values across generations (37:21).
  • "Damaged people...are people who grew up without any sense of ritual whatsoever..." – Johan Kurtz [37:26]

12. The Collapse of Western Civilization – How Grim Is It?

• Doug’s Big-Picture Pessimism: Doug pushes the theme that Western values and identity are being overrun and replaced by rival systems and cosmopolitanism (39:48–41:55).
• Can Outposts Survive? Kurtz is pessimistic about a broad national revival but optimistic about family and small community “islands of stability” enduring—even as larger systems collapse (41:55–45:48).
  • "You just go back to fundamentals, friends, family, strong communities, and try and inculcate in your children a love of life..." – Johan Kurtz [52:28]

13. Modern Freedom and Its Limits

• Freedom Misunderstood: Kurtz critiques the Enlightenment notion of freedom for morphing into an atomized society and loss of social bonds. True freedom, he argues, is only meaningful alongside discipline and duty (46:32–48:53).

14. What’s to Be Done? Personal and Community Action

• Actionable Steps: Beyond grand politics, Kurtz urges listeners to focus on strengthening families, forming communities, creating rituals, and deliberately raising children with a sense of responsibility and identity (50:04–53:48).
  • "But what you can do...is make sure that we embed ourselves in small units, communities, you know, families, sets of families who know each other very deeply..." – Johan Kurtz [51:06]

15. Practical Parenting for Legacy

• Examples from Kurtz’s Home:
  • Reading and dining together daily.
  • Making faith and ritual fun (e.g., saints’ day cakes).
  • Using birthdays as micro-rites of passage, teaching children manners, social skills, and a sense of their place in the family legacy (53:51–55:33).
  • Empowering children with identity objects, e.g., a shield bearing the family insignia (56:46–58:13).
  • Tracking family history, creating even “new” family traditions if necessary (58:13–61:00).

16. Building Identity from Scratch

• Not Just for the Aristocracy: Even families with no known history can start new traditions and research their genealogy to build a sense of continuity (58:13–59:47).
  • "There's always one [relative] that has the entire family tree mapped out..." – Johan Kurtz [59:31]

17. Intergenerational Transmission and the Importance of Family Stories

• Heroes and Stories: Sharing stories of past family members, especially those who exemplified virtue or bravery, empowers children and sets behavioral expectations (59:47–62:03).
  • "Knowing that your grandfather did this brave thing is actually a very empowering experience because you say, you know what, his blood still runs in my veins or whatever. I want to be that hero as well." – Johan Kurtz [59:53]

18. The Audience for "Leaving a Legacy"

• Intended Recipients: While most books on legacy are for parents, Kurtz’s book may have the novel effect of children gifting it to their parents to prompt the conversation (71:59).
  • Concern addressed: The book is NOT a crass appeal to “give me your money,” but a philosophical and positive case for family legacy (72:30).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Johan Kurtz:
  • "What you have is really an expression of this living, sort of breathing relational component of stewardship over things that affect the lives of those around you." [09:12]
  • "Christmas is kind of the last man standing of that approach [to ritual]." [39:22]
  • "Families who never observed anything like Christmas or the importance of birthdays, anything like this... the whole of existence takes on this mundane character when you don't carve out particular days..." [37:21]
• Doug Casey:
  • "People that actively dissipate their wealth or don't care about it... it displays a kind of hatred of other people..." [12:15]
  • "Western civilization has lost traction almost everywhere... it's sad." [39:48]
• Matthew (Host):
  • "You could imagine... the ancestor worship of the former patriarch... the house still stood... and the current patriarch's role was just to steward the ship well..." [35:53]
  • "We designed our own family coat of arms and a family motto... we did it together. Not as powerful as something that goes back even one generation before, but it is something." [61:00]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Viral Disinheritance Trend & Book Origin: 00:53–03:00
• Case for Wealth Transmission ("Missing Billionaires"): 02:16–03:54
• The Modern Parent’s Dilemma: 04:09–06:41
• Christian & Philosophical Arguments for Legacy: 08:21–16:24
• Socio-Political Role of Multigenerational Wealth: 16:38–21:50
• Charity vs. Philanthropy: 22:23–25:46
• Raising “Dynastic” Children: 31:38–34:11
• Ritual, Identity, and Legacy in Family Life: 37:21–39:48, 53:51–59:47
• State of the West and Outlook: 39:48–53:48
• Q&A on Parenting and Family Identity-Building: 53:48–62:38
• Who Needs to Read This Book / The Gift Dilemma: 71:59–72:53

Conclusion: Major Takeaways

• Inheritance is more than asset transmission; it is stewardship, duty, and a form of civilizational continuity.
• Ritual, family stories, identity, and responsibility are critical—even for families without aristocratic lineage.
• Modern attempts to bypass family legacy for philanthropy and atomized freedom risk undermining the very foundations of Western culture.
• While Western civilization may be in decline at the macro level, families and small communities can create durable “islands of stability” and beauty—one legacy at a time.

For more from Johan Kurtz, follow his substack "Becoming Noble." His book "Leaving a Legacy" is available on Amazon.