The estate tax would likely be more acceptable if the deceased were able to provide some amount of direction in their wills about the use of the collected tax r

The estate tax would likely be more acceptable if the deceased were able to provide some amount of direction in their wills about the use of the collected tax revenue, but I suppose that would open up a whole can of worms. Actually, they can do exactly that by donating their estate to charity instead of bequeathing it to their heirs.