6 ms·

Another reason to temporarily suspend cynicism is that this is a very interesting method of philanthropy. Allowing the recipients to chose their own destinatio

Another reason to temporarily suspend cynicism is that this is a very interesting method of philanthropy. Allowing the recipients to chose their own destinations for the money could lead to a more diverse and disruptive set of expenditures. I am interested to see this award program's effects in 10-20 years. Is this an annual event? I never saw a definitive answer on that.

skeeter2020 5y ago
>> I am interested to see this award program's effects in 10-20 years One of the challenges of this "pay it forward on steroids" approach is that it will likely be hard to attribute measurable changes to the original investments. It does seem notable that Bezos has captured a huge set of resources, then paid it out to others for redistribution under their policies and procedures; he's essentially acting like a government which raises some concerns.
- RIMR 5y ago
  He has more capital than entire nation states. It's absurd that we celebrate this kind of undemocratic power in America.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
sgpl 5y ago
I mean I'd say Mackenzie Scott (fka: Mackenzie Bezos) is someone who should be lauded more here. Not that it's a competition or that one takes away from the other but she's doing more to chip away at the status quo of philanthropic giving vs others. In 2020, she gave away nearly $6 billion to 500 organizations. And has distributed $2.74 billion so far this year to about 286 orgs. From what I've read, these grants/donations don't come with any strings attached unlike grants from a lot of big foundations.
- JulianRaphael 5y ago
  Agreed! Unfortunately, quite a bit of the money that she donates to some of these organizations goes into the pockets of extremely well-paid executives. That what's always bothered me about giving to charity orgs more widely. Luckily, there are websites that allow you to check how much charity organizations are actually spending on their programs vs. their expenses... I do think that giving directly to individuals who will make sure that all of the money is spent wisely is an interesting alternative approach.
- tomComb 5y ago
  J. K. Rowling too, though not on quite the same scale: she would be a self-made billionaire, but she's given away enough that I don't think she's a billionaire anymore. To me, she seems like a really admirable public figure in general.

skeeter2020 5y ago

>> I am interested to see this award program's effects in 10-20 years One of the challenges of this "pay it forward on steroids" approach is that it will likely be hard to attribute measurable changes to the original investments. It does seem notable that Bezos has captured a huge set of resources, then paid it out to others for redistribution under their policies and procedures; he's essentially acting like a government which raises some concerns.

RIMR 5y ago
He has more capital than entire nation states. It's absurd that we celebrate this kind of undemocratic power in America.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

sgpl 5y ago

I mean I'd say Mackenzie Scott (fka: Mackenzie Bezos) is someone who should be lauded more here. Not that it's a competition or that one takes away from the other but she's doing more to chip away at the status quo of philanthropic giving vs others. In 2020, she gave away nearly $6 billion to 500 organizations. And has distributed $2.74 billion so far this year to about 286 orgs. From what I've read, these grants/donations don't come with any strings attached unlike grants from a lot of big foundations.

JulianRaphael 5y ago
Agreed! Unfortunately, quite a bit of the money that she donates to some of these organizations goes into the pockets of extremely well-paid executives. That what's always bothered me about giving to charity orgs more widely. Luckily, there are websites that allow you to check how much charity organizations are actually spending on their programs vs. their expenses... I do think that giving directly to individuals who will make sure that all of the money is spent wisely is an interesting alternative approach.
tomComb 5y ago
J. K. Rowling too, though not on quite the same scale: she would be a self-made billionaire, but she's given away enough that I don't think she's a billionaire anymore. To me, she seems like a really admirable public figure in general.