Wealthy and Wise - Warren Buffett's lesson to the rich. By Jacob Weisberg: "Buffett's views on the political subject of wealth are deeply American. Wealth like his can be justified temporarily as an expression of how much opportunity our social system affords. But passing it down across generations, he says, 'flies in the face of a meritocratic society' and threatens to create the sort of aristocracy the founding fathers sought to prevent. Capitalism also falls short as a distribution mechanism for billions of people who are not born lucky. These views explain not only Buffett's giving away his money but also his strenuous opposition to the Republican effort to abolish the estate tax. 'I would argue that when your kids have all the advantages anyway, in terms of how they grow up … it's neither right nor rational to be flooding them with money,' he told Carol Loomis of Fortune in his first interview this week.

There's a human and personal dimension to this as well: Buffett didn't want to cripple his own children by raising them to expect a free ride. As he pointed out in response to a question Monday, people at his country club who complain about the debilitating effects of welfare should recognize that they're creating a cycle of dependency by giving their own kids 'a lifetime supply and beyond of food stamps.' Buffett has followed through on his beliefs. While he endows the philanthropic work of his children, he doesn't plan to leave them great personal wealth. One of his aphorisms is that you should leave your kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing."