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Isn't it interesting that it's seemingly only self-made millionaires/billionaires who are pledging the bulk of their self-made fortunes away? That despite them
by borgia 12y ago
Isn't it interesting that it's seemingly only self-made millionaires/billionaires who are pledging the bulk of their self-made fortunes away? That despite them doing this, we're not seeing "old" money following suit?
- saryant 12y agoThe old money donated their money a long time ago. Been in a library? Carnegie probably paid for it.
- wavefunction 12y agoCarnegie was new money.
- arethuza 12y agoThe very modest wee cottage in Dunfermline where Carnegie was born is a museum: http://www.carnegiebirthplace.com/ http://www.carnegiebirthplace.com/
- Iftheshoefits 12y agoBill Gates is not a self-made millionaire, if that phrase is to have any meaning.
- briandear 12y agoWas he born a millionaire? Define 'self made.'
- Iftheshoefits 12y ago"Self made" defies precise definition. If you start with $999,999 and earn $1 by your own efforts, a strictly precise definition for "self made" would imply you were a "self made" millionaire. However it would also apply to somebody who started with $1 and earned $999,999 by his own efforts. Hence using "self made" in both cases renders the phrase so broad as to be empty of meaning.
- joosters 12y agoIt doesn't need a precise definition. I think most people will understand what you mean when calling someone a self-made millionaire. That's all that matters: the phrase conveys a meaning.
- zo1 12y agoI'm sure it has a meaning, just probably not one you'd agree with? I've had this debate with others before, and "self-made" overall tends to mean that an individual did something in isolation. I.e. It plays into the narrative that "no man is an island" and that we all owe our gratitude to the society we were part of, as if the society had some direct doing in it.
- mehrzad 12y agoThere are discussions regarding how old money types who went to elite colleges prior to the 1960s had a sense of social responsibility. They were more likely to participate in military or public service.
- Florin_Andrei 12y agoMaybe it's a self-selection effect. Inherited money that is donated tends to not be inherited anymore.