5 ms·

that way it is harder for anyone to catch up to him

by tensor_rank_0 9y ago

codefined 9y ago
I'm not sure if this post is sarcastic or not, you realise he's giving away something like 99% of his money?
- tensor_rank_0 9y ago
  > giving away to a foundation which he controls. its how the ultra-wealthy preserve their wealth, its pretty standard issue.
  - throwaway1748 9y ago
    That's a ridiculous statement in Gates' case. The Gates Foundation is giving away tons and tons of money at a rapid pace: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database https://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Gran... They're not "preserving" his wealth in any way whatsoever
  - skellera 9y ago
    His foundation does more for the world than most countries. He's going to be dead. What are you trying to get at?
    - tensor_rank_0 9y ago
      people in those countries tend to be highly critical of the actual affect of his interventions. his children are in school, but his friend and fellow-billionaire-advocate-for-higher-taxes-on-billionaires, Warren Buffett, is doing the same thing. his children work for the foundations that will administer his wealth after he dies. its only logical, why would he or anyone else let some random person manage the foundation? you want someone who you can trust. you dont have to consider it a bad thing but please dont think "giving your money to a foundation that you set up" is anything like "giving it away". there are things the ultra-wealthy do in order to save their wealth from estate taxes and setting up a foundation is one of them.
      - profunctor 9y ago
        The foundation must give away all of it's money within 50 years of their death. Sure their kids will have nice jobs but I do see that as altruistic.
forapurpose 9y ago
> that way it is harder for anyone to catch up to him It's the opposite; it would be easier for people to catch up. By providing more funding for health, housing, and education, more people would have the opportunity to become wealthy themselves, and to do great things for society. How many potentially great developers are lost in awful educational systems, for example? The U.S. is supposed to be land of opportunity, where the belief is that anyone can thrive given liberty and opportunity, and that talent does not depend on the wealth of your parents. Right now, college education is determined, more than anything else, by parental wealth or income. If you mean that it's harder for other billionaires to catch him, it's kind to consider their welfare. But as Gates would pay more tax than the other billionaires, they would catch up to him.
- KhanMahGretsch 9y ago
  >The U.S. is supposed to be land of opportunity, where the belief is that anyone can thrive given liberty and opportunity, and that talent does not depend on the wealth of your parent To offer an alternative interpretation, I’ve always seen the “American Dream” as opportunity to improve your position in life, rather than creating an entirely-level playing field for all. The latter experiment has been attempted many times in the 20th century in many nations, and the results have not been encouraging, to say the least. Besides wealth-of-money, many kids benefit from parents with wealth of character, intelligence, wisdom, and even love; the importance of these cannot be understated. I agree, of course, that wealth has never been more important in determining one’s ability to receive a good education, and that is a major problem. One solution could be to increase funding for public schools... but I am rapidly losing faith in the results they deliver. The most disadvantaged people are priced-out of the market for private schools, and the same can be said for many in the middle-class. There is also a fundamental problem at play: those not suited for academia, but have much value to offer society, are always going to slip through the cracks under the “must-be-college-educated” paradigm. I want plenty of low-skilled jobs with a reasonable wage available for those who just want an income, while they tinker away at their genius invention in the evening, for example.
  - rootusrootus 9y ago

that way it is harder for anyone to catch up to him

codefined 9y ago

I'm not sure if this post is sarcastic or not, you realise he's giving away something like 99% of his money?

tensor_rank_0 9y ago
> giving away to a foundation which he controls. its how the ultra-wealthy preserve their wealth, its pretty standard issue.
- throwaway1748 9y ago
  That's a ridiculous statement in Gates' case. The Gates Foundation is giving away tons and tons of money at a rapid pace: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database https://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Gran... They're not "preserving" his wealth in any way whatsoever
- skellera 9y ago
  His foundation does more for the world than most countries. He's going to be dead. What are you trying to get at?
  - tensor_rank_0 9y ago
    people in those countries tend to be highly critical of the actual affect of his interventions. his children are in school, but his friend and fellow-billionaire-advocate-for-higher-taxes-on-billionaires, Warren Buffett, is doing the same thing. his children work for the foundations that will administer his wealth after he dies. its only logical, why would he or anyone else let some random person manage the foundation? you want someone who you can trust. you dont have to consider it a bad thing but please dont think "giving your money to a foundation that you set up" is anything like "giving it away". there are things the ultra-wealthy do in order to save their wealth from estate taxes and setting up a foundation is one of them.
    - profunctor 9y ago
      The foundation must give away all of it's money within 50 years of their death. Sure their kids will have nice jobs but I do see that as altruistic.

forapurpose 9y ago

> that way it is harder for anyone to catch up to him It's the opposite; it would be easier for people to catch up. By providing more funding for health, housing, and education, more people would have the opportunity to become wealthy themselves, and to do great things for society. How many potentially great developers are lost in awful educational systems, for example? The U.S. is supposed to be land of opportunity, where the belief is that anyone can thrive given liberty and opportunity, and that talent does not depend on the wealth of your parents. Right now, college education is determined, more than anything else, by parental wealth or income. If you mean that it's harder for other billionaires to catch him, it's kind to consider their welfare. But as Gates would pay more tax than the other billionaires, they would catch up to him.

KhanMahGretsch 9y ago
>The U.S. is supposed to be land of opportunity, where the belief is that anyone can thrive given liberty and opportunity, and that talent does not depend on the wealth of your parent To offer an alternative interpretation, I’ve always seen the “American Dream” as opportunity to improve your position in life, rather than creating an entirely-level playing field for all. The latter experiment has been attempted many times in the 20th century in many nations, and the results have not been encouraging, to say the least. Besides wealth-of-money, many kids benefit from parents with wealth of character, intelligence, wisdom, and even love; the importance of these cannot be understated. I agree, of course, that wealth has never been more important in determining one’s ability to receive a good education, and that is a major problem. One solution could be to increase funding for public schools... but I am rapidly losing faith in the results they deliver. The most disadvantaged people are priced-out of the market for private schools, and the same can be said for many in the middle-class. There is also a fundamental problem at play: those not suited for academia, but have much value to offer society, are always going to slip through the cracks under the “must-be-college-educated” paradigm. I want plenty of low-skilled jobs with a reasonable wage available for those who just want an income, while they tinker away at their genius invention in the evening, for example.
- rootusrootus 9y ago