Many of the Hereditary elite, or for that matter those who earned theirs, form foundations to continue doing what they might consider to be good for a community, and start out as fairly conservative in their views and what they are willing to support. Over time and with their deaths, the foundations continue tax free, and are taken over by boards of directors or individuals with ideas and values NOT shared by those whose names appear on the Foundation. Thus much of the wealth is then used to advance an agenda in sharp contrast to the values that originally inspired the Foundation.
And the irony is, it was because of tax laws aimed at preventing hereditary family elites, that giant “charitable” foundations were formed, which turned out to be worse; in fact, the exact thing the “progressives” claimed to be trying to prevent with their tax laws.
Today’s foundations and their wealth, power, unaccountability, and unlimited life remind me of the vast monastery and church holdings in medieval Europe.