tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post8027364204026136368..comments2024-03-27T02:16:08.906-07:00Comments on The Naked Dollar: Mixed Feelings About the "Billionaire's Pledge"Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02142855830798306100noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-33354068855139746362011-02-02T11:09:08.665-08:002011-02-02T11:09:08.665-08:00Well argued, Scott. A related issue is the ideolo...Well argued, Scott. A related issue is the ideological corruption of foundations run by technocrats whose views the original donors (Ford, Kroc, MacArthur) would find abhorrent. Another striking phenomenon is the herd mentality of billionaires when it comes to giving. Population control, for example, was made fashionable by John D. Rockefeller III. Hundreds of millions of dollars go to population control bureaucrats who chase phantoms that spring from the Malthusian brains of academics like Paul Erlich, who predicted mass famines in the seventies, etc.George Sim Johnstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06118646718241361980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7438222975913037031.post-5488656229637597612011-02-02T10:53:13.929-08:002011-02-02T10:53:13.929-08:00Outstanding.
I remember watching Larry King inter...Outstanding.<br /><br />I remember watching Larry King interview Ted Turner shortly after Turner made that UN pledge, which I agree was probably money largely thrown away. I don't remember the exact context, but at one point I distinctly remember Turner saying, "Yeah, but I had to make it first before I could give it away."<br /><br />I think that single sentence encapsulates so much of what most people don't understand about the virtuous possibilities of capitalism. <br /><br />I'd be interested in your thoughts on Muhammad Yunus' "Non-loss, non-dividend" concept, which in some ways tries to harness the power of capitalism in an explicitly charitable way. I see its benefits, but I'm wondering if ultimately it can't produce as much wealth as true capitalism, and therefore, can't produce as much "social utility".<br /><br />So therefore, if the goal is helping the human condition, I think the character of the capitalist becomes the biggest issue.Dean Znoreply@blogger.com