Photo: dpa
According to Karl Marx, in capitalism we act as character masks – that is, in the interests of the stratum or class to which we belong. Undoubtedly a valid theorem, and yet every now and then there are people who completely fall out of their role. One is the German-Austrian heiress Marlene Engelhorn, who was born in 1992. On Tuesday, the descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn (1821-1902), founder of Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik AG (BASF), announced at a press conference that she was making 25 million euros – the largest part of her fortune – available to the Austrian public wants to put. Engelhorn finds it unfair that she inherited so much money and therefore power without doing anything for it. The German studies student doesn’t believe in patronage and charity work, which rich people use to give themselves an altruistic image. Instead, she prefers to campaign for tax justice in the “taxmenow” initiative, which she co-founded.
As early as 2021, Engelhorn demanded in the “Standard” in view of the inheritance expected when her grandmother died: “Finally tax me! If there is no inheritance or wealth tax by the time (I receive my inheritance), I’ll just make one myself.” Engelhorn inherited in 2022, and now she’s putting her plan into action, so to speak: on her behalf, with the help of the social science Foresight Institute In Austria, a citizens’ council that represents the demographic needs to be formed, which will then decide what happens to the millions. Engelhorn’s only condition: The money must not be used for unconstitutional, anti-life, inhumane or profit-oriented purposes. You want class traitors like that.
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