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Doesn't it do both of those, plus also potentially open Facebook to being out-competed by a Nigerian or Kenyan software company? Even if his particular brand o
by lazaroclapp 10y ago
Doesn't it do both of those, plus also potentially open Facebook to being out-competed by a Nigerian or Kenyan software company?
Even if his particular brand of education is in the particular areas in which his company employs people (note that it is also his own personal area of education and expertise), I don't think that should be enough to dismiss funding education as a valid tax deductible charity. Now, if in the next months it emerges that this coding schools teach only FB specific technologies (e.g. something like how to build a Messenger bot, I don't even mean PHP/Hack or React) or that admission is contingent in signing a contract to work for FB afterwards, I would feel very differently.
To put an extreme example, do you consider the companies listed here: http://www.blackgirlscode.com/partners.html http://www.blackgirlscode.com/partners.html to also be participating in a tax deductible anti-labor scheme? If not, where is the line?
Sure, maybe at some point Zuckerberg will realize, like Gates did before him, that the world still needs more anti-malaria drugs and nets, before it needs computers and programming courses. Nonetheless, education initiatives (even highly-targeted professional-skill education initiatives) are charities and do produce a public benefit. Whether or not that benefit exceeds the benefit produced by the taxes that would otherwise have been collected leads to a lengthy policy discussion about when and how to tax charitable donations, which might indeed be an option.
- blackbagboys 10y agoAndela's business model is to provide low-cost contract labor to large tech firms. This is of course delightful for those African students who benefit from the program and from a business perspective a wise investment by the Chan Zuckerbeg slush fund. I only wish that they would dispense with the nauseatingly self-congratulatory marketing copy.
- lazaroclapp 10y agoInteresting. I was unaware of this, I thought this was an entirely non-profit code school type program. Is training contingent on them working for Andela afterwards? Because if so, I actually fail to see how this can be considered a nonprofit investment (in which case, I agree, it is a good business deal for everyone involved and maybe even a net-positive-do-good business deal, but one that should probably be taxed... ) Edit: I just realized this indeed an investment from a for-profit company to another, which will actually pay taxes (which is good), but seems to be surprisingly describing itself as a philanthropic initiative. So I actually see your point about this being a strange PR spin on it...
- nl 10y agoThere are plenty of existing software outsourcing companies. For your argument to make sense you'll need to explain why FB doesn't use them already if cost control is his motivation here.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]