Sergey Brin has a secret disaster relief charity

Post by sytelus » Mon, Jun 22, 2020, 2:38 AM UTC

saddlerustle wrote: post #20

michaelangerman wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is one example... 5. Niger: Wealth per Adult: $1,017 Niger is the largest nation in West Africa, but more than 80% of its land area is in the Sahara Desert, so it is prone to drought and famine. The GDP as of 2017 was $9.87 billion, but the wealth per adult remained low despite economic reforms. Reference: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/managing-wealth/112916...

To keep that in perspective, the GDP of Niger (population 22 million) is about the annual budget of San Francisco (population 900 thousand). Is comparing very poor countries to individuals from very rich countries a relevant framing? Global wealth disparities aren't a new phenomenon (and global wealth inequality is decreasing!)

Post by davidgay » Mon, Jun 22, 2020, 2:41 AM UTC

michaelangerman wrote: post #3

Besides monarchs in the past, for the first time in the history of Planet Earth we have many people and corporations that have more money than governments and so with that comes the responsibility of "acting accordingly". I believe that in a good light this will continue to assist humanity in ways never thought of before as human ingenuity is always more nimble than large bureaucratic organizations.

Post by mchusma » Mon, Jun 22, 2020, 2:49 AM UTC

flyinglizard wrote: post #10

> But the use of ex-military personnel for humanitarian and conservation work is also controversial, according to Rosaleen Duffy, a professor of politics and international relations at the University of Sheffield. No, Professor Duffy, the use of ex- or active - military personnel to render aid is not controversial. It's a widely accepted and successful practice.

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 22, 2020, 2:55 AM UTC

throwawaygh wrote: post #28

wutbrodo wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this really that surprising? Governments' advantage is crafting certain kinds of incentives that markets can't, but it's pretty much a guarantee that government will be more incompetent at whatever specific task they put their mind to, in large part because of the burden of democratic accountability. Conditioned on the resources and incentives being centralized (in Brin), why wouldn't you expect his organization t…

Yes, the poor performance of the US government in COVID-19 is astounding and unique among governments. In no small part due to exactly this attitude. The US Government was the first institution in the world to put a man on the moon. A half century before the libertarian corporatism figured out the market incentives to merely put stuff into low orbit. Which even communism figured out a half century ago. And even now t…

Post by 3131s » Mon, Jun 22, 2020, 2:57 AM UTC

wutbrodo wrote: post #25

throwawaygh wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> can beat governments to the punch on this kind of aid. Yes, exactly this. Not "can provide the aid", but "first to the punch". You really hit the nail on the head. The morality of massive wealth accumulation -- and the morality of various mechanisms for changing that accumulation -- is definitely something that reasonable people can have a polite and respectable debate about. But it is absolutely unacceptable that…

Is this really that surprising? Governments' advantage is crafting certain kinds of incentives that markets can't, but it's pretty much a guarantee that government will be more incompetent at whatever specific task they put their mind to, in large part because of the burden of democratic accountability. Conditioned on the resources and incentives being centralized (in Brin), why wouldn't you expect his organization t…