Sam Altman just vowed to donate most of his wealth through giving pledge • Hacker News Board

Re: Sam Altman just vowed to donate most of his wealth through giving pledge

#31

Post by davidgerard » Wed, May 29, 2024, 6:02 PM UTC

Nasrudith wrote: post #26

sriram_malhar wrote: post #6

Anand Giridharidas's book, "Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World" is an excellent commentary on this state of affairs. He particularly takes on the act of massive charities (Gates, Buffet etc) because the acts by which a few individuals make a lot of money are precisely the ones that have screwed up society so bad. We should not look at philanthropists so kindly.

That sounds very "leftist" in circular-logic where more money means you are axiomatically automatically the most guilty regardless of level of harm caused. Which means that if you were to become the first trillionare by curing 95% of all forms of cancer then you are clearly history's greatest monster.

> That sounds very "leftist" in circular-logic

what the

Re: Sam Altman just vowed to donate most of his wealth through giving pledge

#32

Post by rchaud » Thu, May 30, 2024, 12:54 AM UTC

abenga wrote: post #28

rchaud wrote: post #16

> "While there is no enforcement in place to ensure pledge members follow through on their promise, the Giving Pledge educates them on ways they can make their donation, which is seen as “public, moral commitment." How hard is it for the ultra-rich to simply cut a check every year to a charitable organization they didn't invent as a tax vehicle, at a time of incredible suffering globally through conflict or natural d…

> Why do the rich need this dog and pony show? Because alleviating suffering is not the goal. Reputation laundering, giving friends and family cushy sinecures, optimizing tax liability, and placating the masses and governments are the goals.

Maybe I'm overly nostalgic, but the reputation laundering in years past didn't seem to preclude significant financial gifts to things the general public benefited from, such as scholarships, public parks and libraries. Bill Gates for his part has done a lot to prevent the spread of infectious disease for the most vulnerable around the world.

Something definitely seems to have changed since those days. Warren Buffett is one of the top 5 most influential men on earth and does nothing besides spout folksy platitudes about how "it's not right" that his secretary pays a bigger percentage of her income on tax than he does. Even Jeff Bezos' divorce was a blessing in some ways as his ex-wife committed billions to charities that Bezos himself would not. The less said about Musk taunting the United Nations Food Programme's ask for $6bn, the better.

Re: Sam Altman just vowed to donate most of his wealth through giving pledge

#33

Post by maxehmookau » Thu, May 30, 2024, 9:49 AM UTC

Nasrudith wrote: post #27

maxehmookau wrote: post #13

Can we stop allowing the richest billionaires in societies decide who is and isn't deserving of philanthropic funds? Fair taxation and properly funded services paid for by directly elected governments, please.

Alright then so when do we go from it being tax deductible to outright banning private charity as "undemocratic"?

There's a huge difference between you or I donating a portion of our earnings to charity and reaping the tax benefits or a billionaire donating >50% of their wealth to causes that they decide and the outsized impact that can have.

The difference in the number of zeroes at the end of those figures is enormous and not comparable.