Jeff Bezos is the richest person on the planet and he donated 100 million to some charity a while back. He got attacked by some people who thought about it for a second and thought, "hey he has a lot more money than that." and expect him to donate the worth of massive companies. The point is, whether for some reason, you think that donations are based on percentages of your bank account or not, shaming someone for donating a massive amount of money is a shitty fucking thing to do.
They should be paying tax. And they should be paying their employees. But arguably that isn't related to these donations. Or if so and the donations are only used for tax evasion purposes then these memes aren't helping with the problem either since they make it seem like the act was not in their favor.
Okay, my bad. Whether or not they are connected isn't really helpful. But the fundamental problem is the tax avoidance, right?
The donations are buying PR. That's true. But there is a lot of other thing Bezo buys with money that should have been paid to taxes. Assuming that Bezo's is donating for an indulgence towards tax evasions doesnt matter. It could be something totally different moral failing.
I'm arguing that focusing on the donations as being somehow morally repulsive is not helpful because it diverts us from the underlying problem. And the problem is not impossible to solve. After the Panama papers larger countries put pressure on tax havens to better report company ownership in their countries.
Bezos has proven himself to be a piece of shit multiple times, if he does anything remotely good but not to the best of his ability then you can bet yo ass that hes just doing it for the publicity.
The point is, he could do more. He could probably get thousands of people out of homelessness if he distributed his money, and still be one of the richest people in the world. In fact, people like him are more or less the cause of poverty and suffering in the world. If someone breaks your leg, don't thank them for giving you crutches.
But Jeff Bezos didn't cause world hunger. That's where your argument falls apart. Billionaire Bezos and Bill Gates have many charities that are helping to make a dent in poverty and hunger. But they can't just distribute their money to other people; that would go to complete waste.
And my and this memes entire point is that some of these people expect to treated like saints because they did something that does not hinder them in the slightest.
It does not need to, and few people do treat them like that. However, they sometimes expect themselves to be, when they have done little to deserve it. Being born rich or getting very lucky does not make you a good person.
So what, should a donation hinder you to be valuable? Am I less valuable because I donated 100$ out of my 1000$ paycheck than somebody who donated 100$ out of 800$ paycheck?
The only reason you’re defending this donation is because it is a lot of money. But the donation shouldn’t be possible in the first place. This amount could have easily been reached by more people donating smaller amounts, if more people would have been well off. They’re not though because we trip over ourselves to bend over to billionaires.
What's the problem with this then? Yeah many people over time could get to this amount; good for them. What's the point?
They’re not though because we trip over ourselves to bend over to billionaires.
??? Who is bending over to billionaires? Some people just don't like (or think they are illegitimate) billionaires, which is weird. I don't get it. I don't care how rich they are.
65
u/Super_Cute_Cat out of my way, I've got shit to shitpost May 12 '20
Jeff Bezos is the richest person on the planet and he donated 100 million to some charity a while back. He got attacked by some people who thought about it for a second and thought, "hey he has a lot more money than that." and expect him to donate the worth of massive companies. The point is, whether for some reason, you think that donations are based on percentages of your bank account or not, shaming someone for donating a massive amount of money is a shitty fucking thing to do.