Earlier quoted context omitted.
Saint Francisco was also a person at one point.
Saint Francis, actually. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi
That's the anglicization. In his native tongue of Italian he was Francesco.
Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke
401–410 of 875 posts
Re: Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke
#402This is a role model I can actually appreciate. I can't figure out why this is the first time I've heard of him. I've seen lots of news about people buying expensive shit, but the fact that this has never come to my attention is a horrible indicator of what the media chooses to report on.
Good example of why I really like HN. Quite keen to read up more on Feeny. Reading about anonymous contributions and selfless behavior like this is such a mood lifter when trawling through the day to day news and information floating around
Re: Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke
#403I’ve long argued for massive estate tax rates on large estates in order to incentivize behavior like this. I have no problem at all with Bezos being worth $200 billion (or whatever it is now), but it’s this dynastic wealth that I find borderline sickening. Why in the hell should the Rockefeller’s of today be billionaires??? Also, these giant charitable foundations/family offices are similarly off-putting, as they are…
> Why in the hell should the Rockefeller’s of today be billionaires???
I'm curious what the statistics are for a family remaining wealth over a long period of time.
Even with wealth evenly split between each generations kids, given a growth of just 4% it might end up with each generation getting a greater amount of wealth still.
In the past large familes prevented this, but if the average extremely wealthy person only averages 2 kids. The dilution through children just doesn't occur.
Re: Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke
#404Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow dude, if you're going to be anti-semitic, just do it. Don't bother trying to be "cute", or "subtle" using emojis. Really pathetic.
Not doubting you for a second[0], but I didn’t see anything anti-Semitic in that post, so am I missing some internet meme or American cultural reference? [0] Footnote in case it is necessary: antisemitism must be stamped out wherever it is found.
Many delis are Jewish. He's saying that whenever he sees buildings named after people, he's in a Jewish neighborhood. In context, it plays into nasty stereotypes about Jews being obsessed with money.
Re: Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke
#405Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wow dude, if you're going to be anti-semitic, just do it. Don't bother trying to be "cute", or "subtle" using emojis. Really pathetic.
For those who can't spot the subtlety, can you explain what you mean?
Many delis are Jewish. He's saying that whenever he sees buildings named after people, he's in a Jewish neighborhood. In context, it plays into nasty stereotypes about Jews being obsessed with money.
Re: Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke
#406Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's far more important to be there and take the credit in person, doing the job of someone who could be doing a better job than you for $15/hr, while not just doing the job you get paid $50/hr to do and sending the money. Everybody knows the most important parts of charity are who gets the credit and one's own personal growth.
I am always amazed by the poor comprehension ability of people on HackerNews. I am saying that credit isn't the point. Also, I am not entirely clear on why you would require $15/hour to volunteer at a charity...but...good for you turning charity into a second source of income. Btw, my point (I will spell it out) is that the problem is almost never money. Money is required to the extent that is required to pay other p…
I respectfully disagree. Trying to accomplish something with lasting impact with volunteer labor is really hard. Sure you can clean up litter and staff a soup kitchen on the weekends but to make a meaningful, lasting difference requires organizational structure and sustained effort by dedicated people. In other words, you can have volunteers ladle out soup, but running the actual soup kitchen as an institution requires a professional staff. That requires money to pay those people's salaries.
By all mean, volunteer at your local soup kitchen. It is a great thing to do! But the money is more helpful on an ongoing basis.
Re: Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke
#407Earlier quoted context omitted.
You speak of frugal living, but why live frugally amassing great wealth? There is a difference between having money to be self sufficient and sitting on billions of dollars
My money, my choice. As long as taxes are paid, it's nobody's business what I do with my money, as long as what I do is not illegal.
But you don’t decide how much tax to pay.
Obviously many poor people will decide that few rich people must pay more.
Re: Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke
#408Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think that's a shame. I have never heard of him. How many could he inspire if he was more vocal? But, to each their own.
I think it's a shame that all donations aren't anonymous. The government should at least take away the tax deductibility of non anonymous donations.
Wouldn't the reduce the amount of donations greatly? Gotta think most people do it at least partly for recognition, otherwise there'd be nothing noteworthy about the article we're discussing.
Re: Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke
#409Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think that's a shame. I have never heard of him. How many could he inspire if he was more vocal? But, to each their own.
I think it's a shame that all donations aren't anonymous. The government should at least take away the tax deductibility of non anonymous donations.
Making a very public show of philanthropy as a means of self-promotion or self-aggrandizement isn't awesome, though frankly if letting people feel good with a little recognition results in more donations then that seems well worth it.
But there are other reasons to make a public show of philanthropy: to encourage others to give, to be a part of giving campaigns, to draw attention to an issue you consider important, to tell a personal story for why something matters for you, and otherwise to direct that attention towards the cause rather than yourself.
Re: Chuck Feeney Is Now Officially Broke
#410Earlier quoted context omitted.
> we must remind ourselves that this is unimpressive compared to the poor person who donates $25 to others while starving herself Is it? This is a very Christian way of looking at donations: personal sacrifice / self-deprivation is what matters. [1] However, utilitarians – notably Effective Altruists [2] – would make the opposite argument: what matters is the impact that you make with the dollars you donate (both in…
Gates' wealth keeps increasing. Sure he gives a lot away but, but he is making 1+ billion per year above what he gives away. It is great that money is going to charity, it is great that money previously belonging to Gates' is going to charity, but I would be far more impressed by you if you donated $100/year to the Internet Archive than I am if Bill Gates donated $100 million. In other words, I don't think anyone cla…
Of course one could argue that we should not be dependent on the goodwill and grace of billionaires to choose to donate their wealth to good causes, but rather should tax fortunes at an onerous rate and put that money in public, democratic control, regardless. For each Chuck Feeny and Bill Gates how many Waltons OR Kochs do we have?