How Mark Zuckerberg’s Altruism Helps Himself • Hacker News Board

Re: How Mark Zuckerberg’s Altruism Helps Himself

#11

Post by vanattab » Fri, Dec 04, 2015, 4:00 PM UTC

Oletros wrote: post #9

sametmax wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. This is what kills me with the recent trend of claming billionairs are heroes. This year, Bill Gate has been all over the internet, "saving the world". But most of the money he gives away is invested by his "charity". And it goes into companies making military equipments, mining, extracting oil, etc. causing direct destruction of the causes they are pretending to protect. E.G: I lived and worked in Africa. I…

> This year, Bill Gate has been all over the internet, "saving the world". But most of the money he gives away is invested by his "charity". And it goes into companies making military equipments, mining, extracting oil, etc. causing direct destruction of the causes they are pretending to protect. Any source for that?

Here is a link to the foundations financial records. I did not see anything that I would object to but maybe the GP will look over the actual data and enlighten us.

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Who-We-Are/General-Informatio...

Re: How Mark Zuckerberg’s Altruism Helps Himself

#12

Post by x1798DE » Fri, Dec 04, 2015, 5:26 PM UTC

I have to say, I don't care what Zuckerberg spends his money on, it's his money. I found it pretentious when he deigned to write an open letter to his daughter informing the world that he was going to go on a spending spree, but I'm also not too keen on everyone on both sides analyzing whether his motivations are pure. If he was going to buy a thousand jet planes and start a jet plane demolition derby I don't know if anyone would bother asking if he might have some ulterior motive.

Then again, I don't go in for hero worship, do I have any need to identify who is doing something heroic and who isn't.

Re: How Mark Zuckerberg’s Altruism Helps Himself

#13

Post by 91bananas » Fri, Dec 04, 2015, 5:58 PM UTC

x1798DE wrote: post #12

I have to say, I don't care what Zuckerberg spends his money on, it's his money. I found it pretentious when he deigned to write an open letter to his daughter informing the world that he was going to go on a spending spree, but I'm also not too keen on everyone on both sides analyzing whether his motivations are pure. If he was going to buy a thousand jet planes and start a jet plane demolition derby I don't know if…

That is an amazing idea for those jet planes.

Re: How Mark Zuckerberg’s Altruism Helps Himself

#14

Post by kcanini » Fri, Dec 04, 2015, 6:13 PM UTC

x1798DE wrote: post #12

I have to say, I don't care what Zuckerberg spends his money on, it's his money. I found it pretentious when he deigned to write an open letter to his daughter informing the world that he was going to go on a spending spree, but I'm also not too keen on everyone on both sides analyzing whether his motivations are pure. If he was going to buy a thousand jet planes and start a jet plane demolition derby I don't know if…

I think you missed the point: Zuckerberg is doing this to avoid paying taxes on his billions of dollars of accumulated wealth. Part of that money should be going back to the society that helped him earn it. Instead, he will have complete control over how it is spent.

Re: How Mark Zuckerberg’s Altruism Helps Himself

#15

Post by x1798DE » Fri, Dec 04, 2015, 7:22 PM UTC

kcanini wrote: post #14

x1798DE wrote: post #12

I have to say, I don't care what Zuckerberg spends his money on, it's his money. I found it pretentious when he deigned to write an open letter to his daughter informing the world that he was going to go on a spending spree, but I'm also not too keen on everyone on both sides analyzing whether his motivations are pure. If he was going to buy a thousand jet planes and start a jet plane demolition derby I don't know if…

I think you missed the point: Zuckerberg is doing this to avoid paying taxes on his billions of dollars of accumulated wealth. Part of that money should be going back to the society that helped him earn it. Instead, he will have complete control over how it is spent.

He is under no obligation to pay taxes he does not owe. Tax deductability of charitable giving is effectively government spending, so take it up with your lawmakers if you don't want that. It has no bearing on Zuckerberg from a legal perspective, and since I'm not out to judge him, I don't really care if he decides to spend his money on a foundation or give it to the government.

Re: How Mark Zuckerberg’s Altruism Helps Himself

#16

Post by calbear81 » Fri, Dec 04, 2015, 10:25 PM UTC

brador wrote: post #8

puredemo wrote: post #7

>Maybe Mr. Zuckerberg will make wonderful decisions, ones I would personally be happy with. Maybe not. He blew his $100 million donation to the Newark school system.. Hopefully Zuckerberg learned a valuable lesson there -- improving inner city schools is simply not contingent upon how much money is thrown at them. Case-in-point: http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-298.html (warning, long read) Are we really going to begr…

> improving inner city schools is simply not contingent upon how much money is thrown at them. Because of the prevailing infrastructure. If instead he had created a customized boarding school for the inner city kids somewhere safe and pleasant we'd be seeing real meaingingful change in their outlook right now. As it is, they were in the same unhealthy environment they've always been in. It's not the schools, it's the…

What about the fact that you're removing them from their families? Yes, the children may have a better future but they also become disconnected from their communities.

Re: How Mark Zuckerberg’s Altruism Helps Himself

#17

Post by TheMagicHorsey » Sat, Dec 05, 2015, 3:16 AM UTC

sametmax wrote: post #3

rogeryu wrote: post #2

Quote from the article: Mark Zuckerberg did not donate $45 billion to charity. You may have heard that, but that was wrong. Here’s what happened instead: Mr. Zuckerberg created an investment vehicle. In doing so, Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Chan did not set up a charitable foundation, which has nonprofit status. He created a limited liability company, one that has already reaped enormous benefits as public relations coup…

Exactly. This is what kills me with the recent trend of claming billionairs are heroes. This year, Bill Gate has been all over the internet, "saving the world". But most of the money he gives away is invested by his "charity". And it goes into companies making military equipments, mining, extracting oil, etc. causing direct destruction of the causes they are pretending to protect. E.G: I lived and worked in Africa. I…

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about when it comes to the Green revolution, the Gates foundation, or India.

I have worked in agriculture in India. Without the green revolution India would have had a famine the likes of which the world has never seen. Pakistan and India would probably have fought more wars than they already did, to the death, over farmland and water (because neither would have had enough land to feed their populations).

Gates has done amazing things for maternal and child welfare in India. I have worked in clinics that are supposed to be funded by the Indian govt., but in reality only function because of NGO participation in the health ecosystem (not just Gates foundation, but they undoubtedly take a leadership role).

I hope nobody actually believes the FUD you are spreading. You are deluded, a liar, insane, or maybe all of those things. I sincerely doubt you have actually set foot in a developing nation in your life.

Re: How Mark Zuckerberg’s Altruism Helps Himself

#18

Post by DrillBitterMan » Sat, Dec 05, 2015, 3:45 AM UTC

brador wrote: post #8

puredemo wrote: post #7

>Maybe Mr. Zuckerberg will make wonderful decisions, ones I would personally be happy with. Maybe not. He blew his $100 million donation to the Newark school system.. Hopefully Zuckerberg learned a valuable lesson there -- improving inner city schools is simply not contingent upon how much money is thrown at them. Case-in-point: http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-298.html (warning, long read) Are we really going to begr…

> improving inner city schools is simply not contingent upon how much money is thrown at them. Because of the prevailing infrastructure. If instead he had created a customized boarding school for the inner city kids somewhere safe and pleasant we'd be seeing real meaingingful change in their outlook right now. As it is, they were in the same unhealthy environment they've always been in. It's not the schools, it's the…

Research shows that school racial integration alone increases outcomes for all children by high double digits. In fact, racial integration is to my knowledge the only reliable method anyone has bothered to attempt to improve educational outcomes in underachieving schools.

What are referred to as "inner city schools" can more relevantly be referred to as re-segregated schools or just never-integrated schools.

ProPublica came out with extremely compelling data on this subject just several weeks ago.

Re: How Mark Zuckerberg’s Altruism Helps Himself

#19

Post by puredemo » Sat, Dec 05, 2015, 9:19 AM UTC

DrillBitterMan wrote: post #18

brador wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> improving inner city schools is simply not contingent upon how much money is thrown at them. Because of the prevailing infrastructure. If instead he had created a customized boarding school for the inner city kids somewhere safe and pleasant we'd be seeing real meaingingful change in their outlook right now. As it is, they were in the same unhealthy environment they've always been in. It's not the schools, it's the…

Research shows that school racial integration alone increases outcomes for all children by high double digits. In fact, racial integration is to my knowledge the only reliable method anyone has bothered to attempt to improve educational outcomes in underachieving schools. What are referred to as "inner city schools" can more relevantly be referred to as re-segregated schools or just never-integrated schools. ProPubli…

Is this the article you're referring to?

http://www.propublica.org/podcast/item/how-5-florida-schools...

It's a bit thin on data / statistics..

Re: How Mark Zuckerberg’s Altruism Helps Himself

#20

Post by sametmax » Sun, Dec 06, 2015, 11:09 PM UTC

rudi-c wrote: post #4

sametmax wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. This is what kills me with the recent trend of claming billionairs are heroes. This year, Bill Gate has been all over the internet, "saving the world". But most of the money he gives away is invested by his "charity". And it goes into companies making military equipments, mining, extracting oil, etc. causing direct destruction of the causes they are pretending to protect. E.G: I lived and worked in Africa. I…

How is the money invested exactly, do you know? Is he actually funding those companies in some way, or does he just own some stocks as part of some very diversified portfolio? If it's the former, I really want to know. If it's the latter, stating that the Gates is financially supporting the destruction of agriculture is a very very strong claim. You need to argue that buying a company's stock on an open market does s…

Investing is not a number game. It has consequences on the real world. If you buy a stock of people making weapons, yes, you are helping to create a world with more weapons. You are, quite litteraly, owning a piece of a company making weapons.

You can argue that you are ok with building weapon. It's another debate.

But you can't say you are not helping. Companies are selling shares on the market because it helps them.

And if tomorrow you make a big speech about gun control, it makes you a hypocrite.

You can slice it in many way, use semantics, play the cards of the layer of abstractions. But in the end, it's a simple truth.