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Forums - Politics Discussion - 14 billionaires join Bill Gates, Warren Buffett in giving away more than half their money

AlfredoTurkey on 13 June 2017
binary solo said:
AlfredoTurkey said:

Their money could easily put an end to most problems but you're right, this way of doing it isn't... or at least isn't going to go far enough. 

No it couldn't, and in particular the money can't solve our biggest problem, climate change because that's a political problem not a revenue problem. Indeed most of our worst problems are political not revenue. It can temporarily alleviate many problems. There are some things the money could permanently solve but putting an end to most problems is overstating things. End of they day, their money is less than half of the annual expenditure of a medium sized developed economy, like Australia.  

Most of our problems are mental illness, education and economy related. All of those can be solved by pumping money into the private sector by idealistic people who want to see improvement. But it has to be done by people like that and at a micro level. You can't just throw a billion into a foundation and expect long lasting change.



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Final-Fan on 14 June 2017
VGPolyglot said:
Ganoncrotch said:

there's no fucking magic switch someone can flick, just have to do what people can. Not doing steps to counter issues because "it's not fixing everything" is just daft.

They're part of the problem, they can't fix the problem while still being part of it.

If the problem is "the capitalist system we live in", there's nothing they can do about that themselves.  The best they can do is turn around the excessive rewards that system has granted them and give it to some of the people the system grinds into the dirt, which is what they are now apparently doing.  Despite your best efforts to dissuade them. 



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VGPolyglot on 14 June 2017
Final-Fan said:
VGPolyglot said:

They're part of the problem, they can't fix the problem while still being part of it.

If the problem is "the capitalist system we live in", there's nothing they can do about that themselves.  The best they can do is turn around the excessive rewards that system has granted them and give it to some of the people the system grinds into the dirt, which is what they are now apparently doing.  Despite your best efforts to dissuade them. 

The thing is, they're not going to to change because they don't want to change it. Why would they try to eliminate the system that made them billionaires in the first place?



NobleTeam360 on 14 June 2017

Meh, I don't trust a lot of "charities" so it's hard to even gauge how much of this money will even benefit whatever the charity is supporting.



TruckOSaurus on 14 June 2017

Damn people have become so cynical that they find a way to spin this news into something bad. Can't we be happy for a little while?



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NobleTeam360 on 14 June 2017
TruckOSaurus said:
Damn people have become so cynical that they find a way to spin this news into something bad. Can't we be happy for a little while?

No, I want to watch the world burn!



TruckOSaurus on 14 June 2017
NobleTeam360 said:
TruckOSaurus said:
Damn people have become so cynical that they find a way to spin this news into something bad. Can't we be happy for a little while?

No, I want to watch the world burn!

Not the world but it's a start.



Signature goes here!

binary solo on 14 June 2017
AlfredoTurkey said:
binary solo said:

No it couldn't, and in particular the money can't solve our biggest problem, climate change because that's a political problem not a revenue problem. Indeed most of our worst problems are political not revenue. It can temporarily alleviate many problems. There are some things the money could permanently solve but putting an end to most problems is overstating things. End of they day, their money is less than half of the annual expenditure of a medium sized developed economy, like Australia.  

Most of our problems are mental illness, education and economy related. All of those can be solved by pumping money into the private sector by idealistic people who want to see improvement. But it has to be done by people like that and at a micro level. You can't just throw a billion into a foundation and expect long lasting change.

But the amount they can collectively throw into those problems is miniscule compared to the size just the problems of education and mental illness alone globally. And they are not the only problems.

I certainly aplaud them for what they are doing. But ultimately they aren't going to shift the dial by much. Because the amount they are putting in is too small even if it is very efficiently and effectively deployed. Private philanthropy has been around for as long as private wealth has existed. It does a great deal of good work. But don't be fooled into thinking it is a panacea for all that ails the world.



“The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” - Bertrand Russell

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

Jimi Hendrix

 

Final-Fan on 14 June 2017
VGPolyglot said:
Final-Fan said:

If the problem is "the capitalist system we live in", there's nothing they can do about that themselves.  The best they can do is turn around the excessive rewards that system has granted them and give it to some of the people the system grinds into the dirt, which is what they are now apparently doing.  Despite your best efforts to dissuade them. 

The thing is, they're not going to to change because they don't want to change it. Why would they try to eliminate the system that made them billionaires in the first place?

I will counter your question with, why not?  It's not like they could end up poor. 



Tag (courtesy of fkusumot): "Please feel free -- nay, I encourage you -- to offer rebuttal."
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My advice to fanboys: Brag about stuff that's true, not about stuff that's false. Predict stuff that's likely, not stuff that's unlikely. You will be happier, and we will be happier.

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Sen. Pat Moynihan
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The old smileys: ; - ) : - ) : - ( : - P : - D : - # ( c ) ( k ) ( y ) If anyone knows the shortcut for , let me know!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I have the most epic death scene ever in VGChartz Mafia.  Thanks WordsofWisdom! 

VGPolyglot on 14 June 2017
Final-Fan said:
VGPolyglot said:

The thing is, they're not going to to change because they don't want to change it. Why would they try to eliminate the system that made them billionaires in the first place?

I will counter your question with, why not?  It's not like they could end up poor. 

They could, but the sensible conclusion is that they're not going to be willing to give it up. Even by giving up more than half of their money, they're still going to be billionaires with very comfortable lives.