Dead Men's Shoes or The One Hundred Per Cent Inheritance Tax

1920 [Hultberg, John W.] (1872-1951). Dead Men’s Shoes or The One Hundred Per Cent Inheritance Tax. By Val de Mar [pseud.]. San Francisco, CA: Dent Publishing Co. PSt

Collection of stories/essays reflecting various reforms. “Dead Men’s Shoes or The One Hundred Per Cent Inheritance Tax. The Pro and Con Of It” (11-104) is concerned with the way that inheritance continues the power and influence of “dead men”. “Putting a Meter on Your Windpipe” (105-12) and “Old Man Noah’s Shoes” (113-26) are attacks on monopolies. The first concerns the control of breathable air; in the second Noah claims ownership of the world after the flood. “Happy Days in the Moon” (127-42) and “Old Satan Turns a Trick” (143-61) describe capitalist dystopias. “Democracy Come True” (162-245) is a cooperative eutopia set in Chicago in 2000. The author was born in Sweden and moved to the U.S. as a young man.