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Mark Zuckerberg donates $500 million

tech.fortune.cnn.com

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Re: Mark Zuckerberg donates $500 million

#11

Post by DodgyEggplant »

aw3c2 wrote: post #8
NatW wrote: post #6

millionaires and billionaires who donate their wealth to philanthropic causes deserve to be upvoted and recognized.

I would always prefer the wealth coming from inside the system, not being first taken by individuals and then spread at their whim. Such wealth would much rather be a sustainable source. A well functioning society/government would know exactly how to spend it well. In many cases, to me, the good the rich do does not nearly weigh in for their wrongdoings.

It sounds OK, but Bill Gates case may prove that individuals can do with wealth better service than government. In a way, the government also "takes from the system", and a lot of what it takes is then spread unfairly.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg donates $500 million

#12

Post by heymishy »

perhaps im being naive (or biased), but why donate $500m to a SV foundation rather than say use that money to address those in more needier positions? Maybe I'm misinterpreting the 'Giving Pledge' ideals but I believe they were meaning donate to those in need for day to day life - rather than funding a community of a relatively well-off community. I understand the desire to give back to your community but 500 million can make a large dent into some bigger issues.

1st world vs. developing world problems I guess..

Re: Mark Zuckerberg donates $500 million

#13

Post by jhuni »

natrius wrote: post #9
aw3c2 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would always prefer the wealth coming from inside the system, not being first taken by individuals and then spread at their whim. Such wealth would much rather be a sustainable source. A well functioning society/government would know exactly how to spend it well. In many cases, to me, the good the rich do does not nearly weigh in for their wrongdoings.

Your comment has been downvoted, but there isn't yet an explanation of why it is incorrect. I'll provide my perspective. 1) Zuckerberg didn't "take" wealth. He created it. 2) Governments don't have particular insight into the best ways to spend resources. We spent a couple of decades comparing market economies with command economies, and market economies won.

What wealth did Mark Zuckerberg create?

Re: Mark Zuckerberg donates $500 million

#14

Post by vidarh »

natrius wrote: post #9
aw3c2 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would always prefer the wealth coming from inside the system, not being first taken by individuals and then spread at their whim. Such wealth would much rather be a sustainable source. A well functioning society/government would know exactly how to spend it well. In many cases, to me, the good the rich do does not nearly weigh in for their wrongdoings.

Your comment has been downvoted, but there isn't yet an explanation of why it is incorrect. I'll provide my perspective. 1) Zuckerberg didn't "take" wealth. He created it. 2) Governments don't have particular insight into the best ways to spend resources. We spent a couple of decades comparing market economies with command economies, and market economies won.

What is the "market" in this case? For smaller donations, lots organisations does compete for our sympathies, but larger donations seems to largely go to pet causes of the persons making the donations. I don't see market forces at work there.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg donates $500 million

#15

Post by marcusf »

heymishy wrote: post #12

perhaps im being naive (or biased), but why donate $500m to a SV foundation rather than say use that money to address those in more needier positions? Maybe I'm misinterpreting the 'Giving Pledge' ideals but I believe they were meaning donate to those in need for day to day life - rather than funding a community of a relatively well-off community. I understand the desire to give back to your community but 500 million…

Based on the article alone, it seems that the SV foundation focuses on managing donations for both local and global projects, and not only in the Bay Area?

Re: Mark Zuckerberg donates $500 million

#16

Post by jfaucett »

People can say what they want about Zuckerberg, maybe he doesn't have the amazing charisma of Jobs, or the genius of Torvalds, and Facebook gets constantly hammered in the press (and him as well), but this is a great gesture on his part, I applaud him.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg donates $500 million

#17

Post by yen223 »

bksenior wrote: post #3

He gets a bad wrap, but as far as a role model for continued commitment to self betterment and helping other within a positon of power he has done an incredible job.

It's bad rap, as in rap sheet. http://grammarist.com/usage/bad-rap/

Sorry, this is a pet peeve of mine :).

Re: Mark Zuckerberg donates $500 million

#18

Post by Tichy »

aw3c2 wrote: post #8
NatW wrote: post #6

millionaires and billionaires who donate their wealth to philanthropic causes deserve to be upvoted and recognized.

I would always prefer the wealth coming from inside the system, not being first taken by individuals and then spread at their whim. Such wealth would much rather be a sustainable source. A well functioning society/government would know exactly how to spend it well. In many cases, to me, the good the rich do does not nearly weigh in for their wrongdoings.

Where does your faith on government spending come from? Because I have exactly the opposite impression. The most extreme form of government spending is communism, and that didn't work out at all. The problem with governments is that they spend other people's money, so they have less incentives for being prudent with it.
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