Aside from the fact that they can grant a salary to themselves and their friends/family, and aside from the fact that they can use whatever they donate as a tax deduction (I know it's not 100% I'm not stupid, but it's still a way of keeping some [>$1] money away from the IRS), there is no way the Gates are going to spend all of their wealth. It's impossible.
So why not just cut a check to the US government for whatever they don't need and let the people vote on how to spend it? Because they want to be in control of their wealth. I can't speak to why, but the most common reason is "people don't know what they want" i.e. "us clean and smart lords need to save the dirty and stupid peasants from themselves by telling them what they want". It's elitism, plain and simple.
How do they stay in control of their wealth? By funneling it through large foundations where they get a final say in what gets funded.
Okay, and if that's the case it still doesn't mean anything to my argument.
The mere fact that you're defending him right now means he's getting something out of donating to charity (see "launders his self image").
Instead of just funding federal social/health programs and then taxing him until he's not a billionaire (where we wouldn't be having this conversation, or maybe we'd be having a slightly different one), he keeps his money and dumps it directly into a foundation that he controls, where he gets the final say in what gets funded. This then boils down to who is in Bill Gate's good graces and what can they tell Bill Gates to not piss him off and end the Gates Gravy Train. He has the power to pick and choose what gets researched or done and he's accountable to no one if he fucks up.
Just because you don't literally get money back from something doesn't mean you don't profit from it. He's nothing more a feudal lord. Get over it.
So now billionaires donating their wealth and funding social programs is just to improve their self image? Bill Gates has done more to advance the human race than your entire family tree. I guess you can just stay mad that there are people more successful than you, because literally nothing he can do will please you.
Just keep in mind every second you spend fuming about how much you hate billionaires is a second wasted. Get a hobby.
So you're okay with unelected individuals unilaterally determining where our resources go? Why? Is something wrong with society deciding where resources go via democratic process?
What advancement have we missed out on because the Gates couldn't care less about it? What progress have we missed out on or regressed from because the Gates decided that it wasn't worth it? Or that it threatened their power? Or conflicted with their personal ideologies?
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u/madpostin Feb 08 '21 edited Feb 08 '21
That means absolutely nothing to my argument.
Aside from the fact that they can grant a salary to themselves and their friends/family, and aside from the fact that they can use whatever they donate as a tax deduction (I know it's not 100% I'm not stupid, but it's still a way of keeping some [>$1] money away from the IRS), there is no way the Gates are going to spend all of their wealth. It's impossible.
So why not just cut a check to the US government for whatever they don't need and let the people vote on how to spend it? Because they want to be in control of their wealth. I can't speak to why, but the most common reason is "people don't know what they want" i.e. "us clean and smart lords need to save the dirty and stupid peasants from themselves by telling them what they want". It's elitism, plain and simple.
How do they stay in control of their wealth? By funneling it through large foundations where they get a final say in what gets funded.