Social progress comes with the accumulation and development of WEALTH. Wealth comes, in a free economy, as a product of WORK AND THRIFT - in short, of character. Capital is often accumulated by inheritance, a God-given right which is strongly stressed in the Bible. According to Proverbs 13:22, "A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just." Inheritance makes possible the accumulation not only of wealth within a family but of social power. Power is inescapable in any social order: it can either be concentrated in the state, or it can be allowed to flourish wherever ability makes i possible among the people. This decentralized wealth means also decentralized and independent power. Instead of a concentration of power in the state there is instead a decentralization of power which moves in terms of varying and independent goals. Again, in a free economy, PROPERTY is freed from the restrictions of the state because it is under the restrictions of the family and of a religiously oriented community. In biblical law, there is no property tax, which means a basic and inalienable social security in the family and in property. The security of a man in his property, and in his inheritance, means a stability in the social order which is productive of progress. - R. J. Rushdoony, Politics of Guilt and Pity (Fairfax, VA: Thoburn Press [1970] 1978), pp. 236-237.