S O U N D   O F F

September 19, 2008

As we have said many times before, the C.E. (Conservation Easement) crowd absolutely needs an oppressive death tax in order to function. The do-gooders and 'monuments-to-myself' crowd likes to pretend that they are the only ones who love the land and therefore their 'love' causes them to need to put in a C.E. and collect their Santa Claus money.
I just thought of another argument for the "love the land" phonies. Anyone who has ever raised children knows that there comes a time to let the child go; let him or her go out into the world and build a life for themselves. That is true love; the letting go. Anybody who wants to continue to control the child's life does not really love the child, but rather, love themselves and want to have continued control of the child for their own pleasure and comfort.

The same applies to 'loving the land'. It is only selfish Narcissists who have a need to control the use of land from the grave. They need a monument to their phony 'love' and have a need for future generation to adore their 'legacy'. Pretty sick, if you ask me.

I remember that it was the Land Trust and C.E. folks who fought the hardest to prevent the estate tax from being abolished and who brought us the absurdity of the tax returning in 2011, after having been zero in 2010. One of the dumbest pieces of legislation I've seen in my 35-year career. Can you just imagine how easy it would be to protect these landowners from losing their land to the estate tax? Why, you could just abolish the death tax. But no, these people would fight any such foolishness. They need the estate tax to force landowners to donate the conservation easement to them. Doesn't this qualify as a perfect example of a "special interest"? But don't expect the media to see it or to report on it.