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Michael Dell Pledges $36M in Harvey Relief

nytimes.com

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Re: Michael Dell Pledges $36M in Harvey Relief

#31

Post by vinay427 »

cgb223 wrote: post #29
danans wrote: post #25

Sincere props to Michael Dell and other very wealthy individuals who are donating generously, but it raises the question of why this sort of gesture is even necessary in our society. Making people financially whole and getting them back on their feet in the aftermath of a disaster of these proportions should be handled by insurance, and when that falls short, the government. The problem is not that the money is priva…

Leave it to Hacker News to find a way to criticize Hurricane Victims reviving large amounts of aid Sometimes a good thing is just a good thing...

I didn't get this message at all from the GP comment:

> Sincere props to Michael Dell and other very wealthy individuals who are donating generously, but it raises the question of why this sort of gesture is even necessary in our society.

Re: Michael Dell Pledges $36M in Harvey Relief

#32

Post by aaronblohowiak »

cgb223 wrote: post #30
dlp211 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But Trump allegedly doesn't donate to his own foundation unlike the Dell's or the Gate's foundations.

Do you have any kind of source on that?

Farenthold's reporting covers it quite extensively

Re: Michael Dell Pledges $36M in Harvey Relief

#33

Post by diogenescynic »

baddox wrote: post #26
danans wrote: post #25

Sincere props to Michael Dell and other very wealthy individuals who are donating generously, but it raises the question of why this sort of gesture is even necessary in our society. Making people financially whole and getting them back on their feet in the aftermath of a disaster of these proportions should be handled by insurance, and when that falls short, the government. The problem is not that the money is priva…

I'm not sure what to think of that attitude. I understand the motivation, but I find this statement particularly odd: > donation relies on the compassion of individuals, not on laws. It would be odd to expect laws to be more compassionate on average than all the individuals under the laws, particularly in an ostensibly democratic society. Yet I can think of several plausible reasons to expect laws to be less compassi…

I think they are saying rights/laws/protections are better than relying on charity.

Re: Michael Dell Pledges $36M in Harvey Relief

#34

Post by kirse »

danans wrote: post #25

Sincere props to Michael Dell and other very wealthy individuals who are donating generously, but it raises the question of why this sort of gesture is even necessary in our society. Making people financially whole and getting them back on their feet in the aftermath of a disaster of these proportions should be handled by insurance, and when that falls short, the government. The problem is not that the money is priva…

The problem is not that the money is private, but that it's donation relies on the compassion of individuals, not on laws.

As it should be. Generosity should not be forced on people via fear of the law (i.e the consequences for not paying your taxes). Even further, a private citizen is often far more in control of the effective distribution of their resources as compared to government.

Re: Michael Dell Pledges $36M in Harvey Relief

#38

Post by contravariant »

danans wrote: post #25

Sincere props to Michael Dell and other very wealthy individuals who are donating generously, but it raises the question of why this sort of gesture is even necessary in our society. Making people financially whole and getting them back on their feet in the aftermath of a disaster of these proportions should be handled by insurance, and when that falls short, the government. The problem is not that the money is priva…

Lack of laws isn't necessarily the problem. The problem cases like these point out is a lack of democratic control on large sums of money.

Government is just a way of getting everyone facing the same direction, they don't have to step in when society does things of it own accord.

Of course they should step in where these uncoordinated actions are insufficient or misguided.

Re: Michael Dell Pledges $36M in Harvey Relief

#40

Post by rabidrat »

solotronics wrote: post #3

Dell is an outstanding Texan this is great to hear.. I donated as well but mine was a little shy of $36M

Michael Dell is worth $22.9 billion; $36m is 0.157% of his wealth. For you to donate an equivalent amount, you only have to donate $157 per $100k of your net worth.
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