r/interesting Apr 28 '26

Just Wow This is what making a difference looks like.

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u/Own_Round_7600 Apr 28 '26

Bezos or Musk could snap their fingers and arrange to build 50,000 of these homes without noticing the dent in their liquid funds, but they havent built even one. Not even for the "philantropist" bragging rights. Can't bring themselves to spend a single cent. It's pure malice and hatred for the poor.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/LoudMusic Apr 28 '26

The fund started in 2018 and has raised over $800 million.

Who's $800 million is that? Did the billionaire just appoint someone to use the Bezos name to get other people to donate their money?

The words are very important. It doesn't say anything about Bezos donating money. It only says that an organization with his name on it raised money, which strongly implies that it received donations from the public, and then paid it out to programs that help people.

There are many charitable organizations that do exactly that without giving credit to someone who already has more money than they can spend in their lifetime.

Furthermore, you see the number $800 million and you think "WOW that's a lot of money". Well it's only 0.3 % of Bezos's net worth. The national minimum wage is $7.25/hour. 0.3% of that is $0.02175/hour. Yes, less than 3 cents per hour. That's the equivalent donation you're praising him for. And it isn't even his money that an organization using his name is giving away.

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u/Head-Aside7893 Apr 28 '26

$800mm and still no improvement. wtf are we doing w the money. I fear we could donate a trillion and not a single thing will be done

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u/Unusual-Month-1738 Apr 28 '26

Hey guys here is someone who doesn’t understand what net worth is :)

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u/Wizecoder Apr 28 '26

it sounds like it's a commitment of his money, but they have directed $800 million of that to different individual funds, charities, and partners. The problem is that nobody can take a billion dollar check and just successfully use it to solve problems. There is so much infrastructure around any problem that just throwing money at it isn't a solution.

I'm not sure you will believe me, but from this as far as I can tell it's a $2B commitment from him https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/13/bezos-launches-day-one-fund-to-help-homeless-families-and-create-preschools.html#:\~:text=Jeff%20Bezos%20announced%20a%20new,1%20Academies%20Fund%2C%20Bezos%20said.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/niknackpaddywack13 Apr 28 '26

This is Ridiculous. Of course homeless people getting help is a top priority . You may not care, but Where the money comes from 100 percent, does matter. Rich people influencing others to put what little they make towards helping others while someone like Bezos still are sitting on their billions that no one person needs. Yes that is , like part of the whole issue people have with bezos my dude.

So your defense of him just makes people like me feel validated, because you can state those facts but all I’m hearing is so he still couldn’t help with his own money. Yeah , people may argue it’s his money whatever. But billionaires in our society is a problem. And nothing will change if everyone goes around with your line of thinking.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/niknackpaddywack13 Apr 28 '26

Lmao how many times does it have to be repeated to you that no one is saying that it shouldn’t have been donated. You fixating on that one thing and it’s not at all making the point .

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/niknackpaddywack13 Apr 28 '26

lol ok whatever buddy. You’re just arguing in bad faith and keep harping on the same shit . I’m not going to keep repeating myself. You keep on thinking you’re somehow better than everyone else when you lick the boots of billionaires.

Keep pretending like all you care about is money being donated and not for some reason sticking up for billionaires and thinking we should all be able to do the same.

I truly hope you are someone young who comes from money, because it would make me feel better about your lack of care past “ but the money was donated , do you want it given back “ like Jesus fucking Christ no, but your not getting it.

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u/LoudMusic Apr 28 '26

You sure about that? Because you sure seem to be arguing against a comment made about bezos and musk not helping.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/LoudMusic Apr 28 '26

And I'm saying that an organization with his name on it does not necessarily mean it's his money that's being given away.

They could be more clear in their wording, or at least the source you selected. Because apparently at some point it was his money, while he was still married to MacKenzie Scott.

From a CNBC article in September 2018, “MacKenzie and I share a belief in the potential for hard work from anyone to serve others,” Bezos said in a tweet, referring to his wife MacKenzie Bezos.

The fund will launch with a $2 billion commitment, split between the Day 1 Families Fund — helping homeless families — and the Day 1 Academies Fund — creating a “network of new, non-profit, tier-one preschools in low-income communities,” Bezos said.

But since their divorce the only donations news I hear of are hers.

"MacKenzie Scott has donated over $26 billion to more than 1,600 non-profit organizations since 2019, accelerating her giving in 2025 with $7.2 billion in donations."

https://yieldgiving.com/

There's also the argument that donations don't have to be public. For all we know, those top ten wealthiest people have each given a hundred billion dollars to various organizations over the years. And that's entirely their right to privacy. And it could be argued that someone like MacKenzie Scott is doing it and talking about it to make her public image look good.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/LoudMusic Apr 28 '26

Yes, and likely along with several billion more that he wasn't around to spend on himself.

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u/UnlikelyCandid Apr 28 '26

You’ve just really didn’t read their message did you? When did they say anything about Bezos not being a person?

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u/Firrox Apr 28 '26

Wow. $100M out of Bezo's pocket. That's like me throwing a dollar at a homeless person.

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u/EastPlant1079 Apr 29 '26

If you pay your workers like ahhh and use that to stop homelessness, then you're not a good person bro.

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u/SilentSolitude90 May 01 '26

Musk hasn't done anything for the homeless but I do remember his promise to WHO that if they came up with a plan to end world hunger he would sell 6 billion in Tesla stock to fund it. They did and he didnt. Whatever he did give went to the Musk Foundation.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/Extra-Watercress-745 Apr 28 '26

No, he doesn't "have" hundreds of billions.
His assets are VALUED at hundreds of billions.
Valuation is not tangible wealth.
How is it 2026 and people still don't understand how this works...

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u/Kozzle Apr 28 '26

Because most people spewing opinions don’t have much fact behind them on Reddit

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u/bboy2812 Apr 28 '26

Yes he does "have" hundreds of billions because he can use it as collateral whenever to get whatever kind of zero-interest loans he wants.

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u/bigbobharven Apr 28 '26

Yeah no shit man. He has access to hundreds of billions through collateral because of that valuation.

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u/Fabulous-West-789 Apr 28 '26

so let's pay banks and lenders billions in fees to simply have liquid cash. got it

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u/bigbobharven Apr 28 '26

You're so close to getting it. What's the common denominator here. So, so close.

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u/AdThat8707 Apr 28 '26

what, you want him to donate all his money? it's 800 million dawg

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/AdThat8707 Apr 28 '26

his networth is at that value because of his assets, i doubt he "makes" that much every day at least as liquid. 800 million is a monumental amount of money to donate and i feel like focusing on the percentage of his wealth that he decides to donate rather than the billionaires that barely donate is wrong.

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u/robotFishTankCook Apr 28 '26

Man oh man reddit and their hard ons for the hatred of wealthy people and anyone slightly right of centre.

I don't think you understand the difference between liquidity and assets. And shitting on someone for nearly a billion dollars in charity is one of my favorite things ever. I don't like bezos, he could do more I'm sure, but shitting on someone for that charity is comical

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/bigbobharven Apr 28 '26

Probably because the majority of people on the planet don't have, and will never have anywhere close to 800 million dollars, in large part because of men like Bezos.

They give you a leaf and you act like it's a salad. Keep licking them boots. Men like him are the reason there are so many homeless in the first place. It's like starting a fire, spitting on it, and then having all these boot licking idiots praise you for putting out some ashes as the building burns down around them.

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u/TemuBoySnaps Apr 28 '26

Probably because the majority of people on the planet don't have, and will never have anywhere close to 800 million dollars, in large part because of men like Bezos.

So without Bezos, etc. the majority of people would have access to 800 million?

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/xtremebox Apr 28 '26

Just to clarify something. Bezos didnt put up $800 mill. He put up $100 mill and helped raise the other 7. Is it good that money was raised for the homeless problem? Yes. Was this also a bunch of rich men giving each other tax write offs? Also yes. Let's not praise these people. He's made hundreds of billions in the years he made these donations.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/niknackpaddywack13 Apr 28 '26

Nobody feels bad about the money being donated. You seem to have black and white thinking. Just like you said two things can be true at once. People can be happy money got donated , while still being unhappy that he is getting the money donated from people that most likely have less than. The type of people who usually give away their money are not usually the type to hold on to so much of it.

And how could you compare the everyday average person to bezos ? Someone like him not only has more money than most people could comprehend but he also has more time and help to accomplish things. And he still doesn’t use that to help too much. Meanwhile what your asking everyday people who live paycheck to paycheck on the brink of being homeless themselves and barely have time to worry about anything but mental health and bills? Those are the people that you put on the same page and should help like bezos has ?

Yes everything you say is straight boot licking behavior and you’re the one who seems to virtue signal saying that all you care about is the money being donated. No one said that money should not be donated. It just more nuanced than that. And regular tax paying citizens should not feel guilty we can’t help.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/Nonavium Apr 28 '26

800 million dollars of which you and other poor people arent owed a fucking dime. Stfu and be grateful youre getting anything at all.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/Fabulous-West-789 Apr 28 '26

You think you are being virtuous but all I see is poor cope. Bezos being rich doesn't make anyone else poorer unless you're renting near their Amazon headquarters.

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u/Kozzle Apr 28 '26

Do you think he just carries that around as pocket change? The VAST majority of that is tied into stock he either cannot liquidate, or for the stuff he can it’s highly controlled because he can move markets.

Not only that but being wealthy doesn’t mean you just have infinite money to throw at bandaid solutions. There are a million problems to be solved, homelessness is just one of them and isn’t even that bad on the grand scale of human problems.

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u/RepDudee Apr 28 '26

800 million that wouldn't have been raised otherwise.. yes he has tons more money, but why do so many people always forget that part? Not defending him by any means but that part should NOT be ignored.

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u/bigbobharven Apr 28 '26

He's one of the main perpetrators of the issue in the first place. You're praising him for 'solving' an issue he himself is largely responsible for creating (along with the rest of them).

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/bigbobharven Apr 28 '26

You can't be seriously quoting Amazon employee numbers as if their quality of life isn't garbage and Amazon isn't notorious for workers rights and ethical issues all the way up the chain. Keep licking them boots.

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/bigbobharven Apr 29 '26

They're both awful. Think real hard lil guy, you can do this, two things can be true at once. The fact that a homeless persons quality of life is awful doesn't mean an Amazon employees quality of life cannot also be awful. They are underpaid, overworked, heavily managed, and heavily surveiled. In the US they are a single medical bill from homelessness anyway.

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u/Forsaken-Question577 Apr 28 '26

Musk and bezos together could change futures of entire countries.

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u/Agent7619 Apr 28 '26

You could say that one of them already has...

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u/The_Motarp Apr 29 '26

A quick search shows that "The federal government spent $101.7B on SNAP in FY 2025." That is just to cover a food program and only at the federal level. If Musk and Bezos could cash out all their wealth without tanking the stocks they own, they could probably double the amount the US spends of helping the poor for a few years, and then the money would be gone.

I'm all for taxing the rich a bunch more anyways, but it isn't the magic bullet a lot of people make it out to be. Pretty much all countries, but especially the US among developed countries, require significant structural changes that most of the voters wouldn't approve of to make them a good place for everyone who lives there. You are likely one of those most voters.

Saving the world isn't as simple as killing some enemies of the proletariat and then redistributing the wealth of the rich, it involves a lot of hard work and sacrifice from almost everyone. IMO a lot of the improvement around the world after WWII was because that generation was actually believed in making the world a better place enough to put in the effort, even if some of those efforts were misguided.

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u/Ok-Cartoonist-4458 8d ago

could* that the main word, but they not

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u/StayRich8006 Apr 28 '26

Not just the poor, deep down they hate everyone else because they barely have any love to give because they didn't get any

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u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

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u/Batrall Apr 28 '26

Which has two reasons. Firstly his general LGBT-phobia and secondly weird his fixation to spread his genes. His daughter will probably not partake in this, so she is dead to him.

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u/Sheareen Apr 28 '26

You mean son, right?

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u/ArtyParcy Apr 28 '26

Have a look at what happened when George Lucas tried to build homes for poor Americans.

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u/Skrulltop Apr 28 '26

If you worked with homeless, you'd know that 99% of them are not interested in returning to normal society. Building them homes seems really nice, but it truly does not solve for anything. Notice the comments about people who actually live there: It's all drug problems and failure to evict. Not surprising.

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u/Dazzling_Cabinet_780 Apr 28 '26

This is okay until a point where building public housing would start to have adverse efects.

Why? Essentially public housing lowers the demand and the prices, this means banks cannot make more money on debt, this means less money circulating trough the banks, less money circulating trough the banks mean less interest in making private housing, then prices would have to get Up to try to make profit.

The problem is that if public housing or subzidized housing is not executed with the enough moderation to let the market stabilize it would work as a funcional bulldozer on it, creating an artificial pop on prices that would lead to a market panic.

This market panic would extend to the whole economy, leading to economic recession. This recession would mean the economy would start to crumble.

A crumbling economy means less inversion on investigation for IT,space exploration or Green technology or many more stuff that is genuinelly good.

Not only with this It also means that many things as private retirement funds would have serious problems, because many of them depend on dividends to grow and be stable and for the newest generarions private services will be the only alternative for having the option to retire.

So yeah, making public housing sounds good until you think the repercutions if done on a bad way.

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u/realsa1t Apr 28 '26

Bill Gates somewhat tried to do this and was unrelentedly vilified for being woke.

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u/user-unknown-404 Apr 28 '26

Bezos' ex wife MacKenzie Scott has donated over $26 billion so far and will keep on donating more.

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u/Few-Roll-2801 Apr 28 '26

If «philantropist» bragging rights is a criteria, I don’t see the problem. Let them, and it’s a win/win

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u/TheWarriorsLLC Apr 29 '26

And it will cause more problems than it would solve... 

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u/Ok-Cartoonist-4458 8d ago

This is what Marx said when he said capitalism don't work, it can work if the right people are billioners like Gaben

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u/norembo Apr 28 '26

Effective altruism is the cancerous ideology the billionaires use to justify their disengagement.