One danger of perpetual foundations is that they might end up pursuing goals antithetical to what their creators wanted. The classic example here is the Ford Foundation, founded by successful capitalists within the Ford family, which eventually took a sharp left turn...
I don’t think this is a problem. Yes, I’m biased because I’m a leftist—but I also think values change with time, and we needn’t worry about our children or grandchildren having different values than us, as theirs might be better. Looking over history, it looks like they probably will be.
As long as we care about “making sure our money benefits the entire future”, the only value we need to lock in somehow is that one itself.
A short objection:
I don’t think this is a problem. Yes, I’m biased because I’m a leftist—but I also think values change with time, and we needn’t worry about our children or grandchildren having different values than us, as theirs might be better. Looking over history, it looks like they probably will be.
As long as we care about “making sure our money benefits the entire future”, the only value we need to lock in somehow is that one itself.