Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Why We Give Our Money Away

This seems related to my last post:
CNN Bill and Melinda Gates: Why We Give Our Money Away
Gates Foundation Home Page




Any Epiphanies...

22 comments:

jerrye92002 said...

I claim that there is a sixth level to Maslow's hierarchy. it applies only to rich people and generally only late in life. Having proven that they are the best at what they do (level V) And recognizing that they cannot possibly spend their great wealth, they set about trying to do as much "good" as they can. Thus you have the Carnegie libraries, the Rockefeller contributions to the National Parks, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, and the Trump presidency. You might deride it as "leaving a legacy" or "piling up points in heaven" or even just "showing off," but the result is the same. And even Bill Gates can explain why he doesn't just give his wealth to the government; it would be wasted.

jerrye92002 said...

no epiphany here, only a confirmation.

John said...

Unfortunately their are a lot more rich people who keep most of their wealth...

If we had more LARGE charitable givers, life would be better for many...

NYT Bezos Starting to Think more about Charitable Giving

Billionaire Bonanza

Why Don't The Rich Give More To Charity?

John said...

The last linked article was excellent.

And it comes back to my money and beads post.

Why would money / accumulation obsessed people who have focused intensely to learn, work, live below their means, save, invest aggressively, etc to build that sizable nest egg suddenly decide to focus on "less focused" people and give them the rewards of their life time of efforts???

The wealthy people I know have a real hard time giving to the needy because they see them as irresponsible, lazy, sinful, etc.

I laugh because the CEO of the company I work at seems sociable at times when he wants to appear friendly. But most of the time he is oblivious to the "working folk"...

John said...

The Dilbert CEO comes to Mind

jerrye92002 said...

Notice first that only about 10% of people reach Maslow's 5th level, and a far smaller percentage become immensely wealthy doing it. Jeff Bezos hardly qualifies as an old man wanting to "store up points in heaven." The really wealthy don't give to "needy people" but rather to charitable organizations that are doing good work. That's why Bill Gates doesn't give to government-- it isn't helping the "needy."

Of course, excessive wealth is not a problem I have. Having government take dollars from me to give to the SELF-MADE "needy" leaves me with fewer dollars with which to do true, effective charity.

John said...

If only a few percentage of wealthy people will reach enlightenment....

Maybe we have to go back to God's Back up Plan

jerrye92002 said...

I don't think so. I am pretty darn sure that God, at least mine, did not task government with "the poor you have always with you." Someplace there are numbers that say if you simply taxed all millionaires at 100% you would barely cover the federal deficit for one year and finance all the "good" that amount of government spending would do. And of course you would get nothing the following year.

The following from your cite is still laughable: "...to force the rich to practice charity..." Does taking your wealth by force make you charitable? It is one of the great conceits of liberals, IMHO.

John said...

Well... The unfortunate appreciate the assistance whether it comes from charity or government... And for better or worse the government does not judge the recipients...

Now I wish I knew how to make rich people more charitable of their own free will... Unfortunately "money grubbing" and "money giving" seem to rarely co-exist in the same person.

John said...

Imagine if all the Pro-Union Pro-American Worker people shunned anyone of their ilk who bought a car from the bottom of this list to save themselves some money...

Or when you see their Samsung, LG or Bosch appliances you make a snide remark about them not supporting the American workers... Instead of oh what a nice refrigerator... :-)

jerrye92002 said...

"The unfortunate appreciate the assistance whether it comes from charity or government.."

That assumption would appear to be the fatal flaw in our disagreements. Welfare is an "entitlement" don't you know? Any thought of gratitude is lost by the nature of the program-- Nothing can be asked of the recipients in exchange for the assistance. True charity involves compassion on the one side, Gratitude on the other, and yes, some amount of judgment that leaves the freeloaders out while helping and encouraging the rest to improve their own lives to where they no longer need the charity.

"Now I wish I knew how to make rich people more charitable of their own free will." Oxymoron alert!!
OTOH, how about a tax CREDIT for charitable contributions, rather than a deduction? that is, if you believe that people react to incentives?

John said...

When one's child is fed and housed, I am pretty sure they are thankful... Even though some may grow to expect it in the future.

I was with a single Mom long ago at a United Way kickoff meeting. She had little good to say about charities but was very happy with the special needs assistance she had gotten for her son from the governmental agencies.

No... Then the government would in essence be paying the charities via lost revenues... Giving folks a right off should be more than enough governmental enticement...

Many rich people are just greedy... That is part of why they are RICH...

jerrye92002 said...

wrong again. Many rich people are just PRUDENT and that is why they are rich. They made the right choices (according to you) and they do not waste their money by giving it to "needy" people that will not do something useful with it (out of gratitude). Nor do they allow government to take it and waste it on their behalf.

And you are correct most people do not give money away for the tax deduction, except for the very rich and for them, the politicians have decided that the deductionmust be limited. /sigh/.

John said...

I don't see a limit of 50% of agi as much of a limit...

More Data on Money Centered / Driven People

jerrye92002 said...

Is the purpose of the tax code to induce "desirable" behavior, punish "undesirable" behavior, or just raise the revenues required for the necessary level of government? if you do not think people should be "greedy" and "driven by money," then you should be free to give away everything you have. I do not agree with doing that, nor do I agree that you have the right to criticize those who do not do as you would have them do.

You started with the question of why anyone would do anything for somebody else if it involved giving away something we owned. Can we agree that people of every socioeconomic status have some innate desire and ability to be altruistic and compassionate? If the neighbor breaks a leg and cannot work, do you buy his groceries until he can, or do you go shoot him in the head as you would a horse?

John said...

Did you read my "more data" link.

I am guessing you did not...

John said...

"neighbor breaks a leg and cannot work"

Actually most people are so busy and focused on their own lives that they would not realize their neighbor needed help... Therefore they would do neither...

jerrye92002 said...

okay, I read it. Has it occurred to you how much money we could save by just not doing these stupid studies? You want to know something about human nature, all you have to do is look around. It's everywhere.

"Most people" have been allowed to believe that the government will look after everybody, and we don't need to do anything except pay taxes. It has been a great loss to our culture and to our collective humanity. Thank goodness there are still a few left who care, like the Koch brothers.

John said...

You always seem to forget that it was a lack of charity in the early 1900's that drove government to enter the business..

jerrye92002 said...

Forget? I never knew it in the first place! Even now it remains more old wives tale then objective history. Nobody "drove" politicians to do something they had no authority and no real ability to do. "Granny's honey and lemon are not curing your common cold fast enough, so the government will buy you some arsenic."

John said...

For your education

jerrye92002 said...

Ah, yes, the "great leap leftward." Good times. :-\