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Ted Turner has died

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Re: Ted Turner has died

#61

Post by tyg13 »

john_strinlai wrote: post #47
georgemcbay wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Giving Pledge still exists, but like most philanthropy it has always been more about PR and reputation washing rather than real public good. The majority of people who have died since making the pledge did not meet the terms they agreed to and the vast majority of people still alive who made the pledge are on track to fail to meet the terms as their wealth is growing significantly faster than their charitable don…

> more about PR and reputation washing rather than real public good. there is a parable i cant quite remember, but something along the lines of "the starving kid does not care where the food comes from". that doesn't quite capture it... but in this context: the people receiving the money/help do not care if they got it because of "reputation washing" or "real public good". they get the help in both scenarios, and tha…

I'd even argue that we should encourage _more_ of this behavior, if it leads to more charity.

The idea that you have to do good deeds without expecting any kind of reward or recognition seems distinctly Christian to me. For Christians, the intent of this requirement is to ensure people remain humble (pride is a sin, of course) but this clearly contradicts the (imo much more relevant) principle of self interest. You can't really expect people to do something for other people without some kind of reward -- be it the promise of eternal salvation, some kind of social credit, or simply an internal sense of satisfaction.

As long as people aren't merely simulating charity to receive it, I don't see any downside to allowing people a bit of social reward for their giving.

Re: Ted Turner has died

#62

Post by dylan604 »

antonchekhov wrote: post #12
dylan604 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CNN was how we watched Desert Storm in '91

Nowadays, almost any news org can have journalists reporting from across the planet in real-time. But back before internet connectivity was ubuquitous, StarLink satellites, smartphones and streaming video everywhere, CNN had a few reporters who had the then-very-rare satellite phones (I think they were almost small-backpack sized) who could report from Iraq on-site during Desert Storm, and it was revolutionary. CNN's…

It wasn't just the sat phones, but they had cameras with satellite links as well. Plus, CNN was the only team that stuck around in Baghdad when everyone else left town. From their hotel room, we watched with them the unedited footage as all of the tracers from the AA lit up the night sky in a way few outside of military service had ever seen. The DoD provided additional footage of missiles through windows, but CNN was the place where everyone watched the live views.

This was a pivotal time for news coverage. The only thing that is at the same level was the JFK assassination. Until then, newspapers were the main source of news. The JFK coverage is where TV took over with live coverage instead of reading yesterday's news. Throw in the live coverage of Oswald being shot, and it was pretty much a standing 8 count with the internet being the final TKO for newspapers. PBS did a special on this called "JFK: Breaking the News"[0]

[0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7yAaUmKwKs

Re: Ted Turner has died

#63

Post by harimau777 »

john_strinlai wrote: post #47
georgemcbay wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Giving Pledge still exists, but like most philanthropy it has always been more about PR and reputation washing rather than real public good. The majority of people who have died since making the pledge did not meet the terms they agreed to and the vast majority of people still alive who made the pledge are on track to fail to meet the terms as their wealth is growing significantly faster than their charitable don…

> more about PR and reputation washing rather than real public good. there is a parable i cant quite remember, but something along the lines of "the starving kid does not care where the food comes from". that doesn't quite capture it... but in this context: the people receiving the money/help do not care if they got it because of "reputation washing" or "real public good". they get the help in both scenarios, and tha…

I think that the problem would be if the reputation washing prevents their victims from getting justice or if they leverage their reputation to victimize more people.

Re: Ted Turner has died

#64

Post by TheGRS »

dhosek wrote: post #14

He’s been pretty quiet in the news for a while so he sort of fell into the category of those famous people who when they died, half your response is a bit of surprise that they were still alive (which is neither a good nor bad thing, just a thing¹). ⸻ 1. I once had an idea for a party game which involved people trying to guess whether a formerly prominent person was alive or dead.

I might have to steal that idea!

Re: Ted Turner has died

#65

Post by harimau777 »

ranger_danger wrote: post #5
JSR_FDED wrote: post #3

I remember CNN bursting onto the scene. It was revolutionary. Although there was never (even today) enough news to fill a 24hr period. Just endless repeats of the same block of news.

I think there absolutely would be enough if they also covered international stories as well as happier news. There's a whole lot more good going on in the world right now than bad, but for some reason we do not highlight it.

I think that a lot of the issue might be that the "good" is often irrelevant to the user. E.g. Great news! Scientists discover new drug for treating cancer (in mice).

Re: Ted Turner has died

#66

Post by harimau777 »

dyauspitr wrote: post #37
nikitalita wrote: post #34

It's funny to me that, whenever these uber-rich old ghouls that were widely despised like 40 years ago die, they're remembered fondly, simply because we have much, much worse rich old ghouls now.

Ted Turner seemed like a solid guy, not just relatively better.

Agreed. I'm generally super cynical (it's something I'm working on!) but Turner seems like a decent person.

Re: Ted Turner has died

#67

Post by lotsoweiners »

dhosek wrote: post #14

He’s been pretty quiet in the news for a while so he sort of fell into the category of those famous people who when they died, half your response is a bit of surprise that they were still alive (which is neither a good nor bad thing, just a thing¹). ⸻ 1. I once had an idea for a party game which involved people trying to guess whether a formerly prominent person was alive or dead.

I guess it would need an internet connection to work but sounds fun.

Re: Ted Turner has died

#68

Post by janalsncm »

john_strinlai wrote: post #47
georgemcbay wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Giving Pledge still exists, but like most philanthropy it has always been more about PR and reputation washing rather than real public good. The majority of people who have died since making the pledge did not meet the terms they agreed to and the vast majority of people still alive who made the pledge are on track to fail to meet the terms as their wealth is growing significantly faster than their charitable don…

> more about PR and reputation washing rather than real public good. there is a parable i cant quite remember, but something along the lines of "the starving kid does not care where the food comes from". that doesn't quite capture it... but in this context: the people receiving the money/help do not care if they got it because of "reputation washing" or "real public good". they get the help in both scenarios, and tha…

The corollary is also true: the starving kid does not care that you are seen as generous. They are hungry.

We can argue all day about motives, but what really matters is action.

Re: Ted Turner has died

#69

Post by PretzelPirate »

mekdoonggi wrote: post #42

Ted Turner owned the largest American Bison herd (~45k animals), supplying meat for his "Ted's Montana Grill" restaurants. I don't know much else about the man, but as a supporter of Bison I can commend that part of his legacy. An impressive vision and execution.

> but as a supporter of Bison

If you support Bison, why commend someone who killed them for a profit?

Re: Ted Turner has died

#70

Post by macintux »

thrownaway561 wrote: post #4

cnn email alert was how I learned that 9/11 was happening. love or hate the man and the news outlet, but you have to admit that they ushered in the news era of the internet.

I remember waking up in the middle of the night for some reason, turning on CNN, and finding out we had invaded Panama.

Growing up, TV stations shut off around midnight. Quite the sea change.

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