A letter to our daughter • Hacker News Board

Re: A letter to our daughter

#341

Post by milge » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 4:18 AM UTC

sokoloff wrote: post #263

fabrice_d wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While Facebook is not doing everything it can to evade taxation in many countries, right? And let them choose what to do with the money. Why isn't Zuckerberg pledging to drive his company as a good citizen?

I would call that tax avoidance, not evasion, but no matter. Judge Learned Hand (a real person's name) wrote, "Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one’s taxes." I agree wholeheartedly. I imagine that were I in their shoes, I'd be fairly confident that I cou…

Agreed. I'd rather have my taxes being spent on worthwhile endeavors instead of half going to blow up strangers on the other side of the world. $435 hammers to line Dick Cheney's pockets? No thank you. A large portion of my taxes going towards curing cancer? Have some extra.

Re: A letter to our daughter

#342

Post by g_delgado14 » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 4:20 AM UTC

bobbles wrote: post #331

scoofy wrote: post #322

Earlier quoted context omitted.

David Koch, worth 44,200 million dollars, is donating literally millions?!? How generous of him to give away approximately 0.002% of his fortune here and there. Please be serious. This comparison is laughable, the ≈ $300M listed on his foundation is literally 0.7% of his net worth.

..and who the hell are you to determine where someone donates their money??

or lack thereof.

Re: A letter to our daughter

#343

Post by hoorayimhelping » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 4:20 AM UTC

scoofy wrote: post #322

gist wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't know about the Saudi princes however the Koch Brothers have given away millions of dollars (and I am sure there also give away money anonymously as well). http://www.kochfamilyfoundations.org/foundationsdhk.asp Also rest assured that Facebook also "evades taxes" in the same way that the Koch brothers do, that is by taking advantage of the US Tax Code in a legal way. And none of us have any idea what the Koch Br…

David Koch, worth 44,200 million dollars, is donating literally millions?!? How generous of him to give away approximately 0.002% of his fortune here and there. Please be serious. This comparison is laughable, the ≈ $300M listed on his foundation is literally 0.7% of his net worth.

How much of your wealth do you donate?

Re: A letter to our daughter

#344

Post by Retra » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 4:21 AM UTC

tertius wrote: post #226

ethanbond wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when is wealth synonymous with comfort? There are people in America who are within the top 1% of global wealth but struggle to feed themselves, or to keep themselves healthy, or to shelter themselves, etc.

> within the top 1% of global wealth > but struggle to feed themselves Wealth means assets. If you can't feed yourself you do not have assets and therefore you don't have wealth. There is extreme lack of poverty in the U.S. (not complete, and compared to all countries). There is no reason for anyone to go without food.

Do you consider debt an asset? If I can feed myself by going into debt, am I wealthy?

Re: A letter to our daughter

#345

Post by HaloZero » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 4:25 AM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #340

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I mean, what else are you going to do with $45 Billion? You are thinking about it the wrong way. You don't spend $45B on stuff for yourself. You spend $45B on changing the way governments and populations live work and how power is balanced. When Bud Fox asked Gordon Gekko "How much is enough" Gekko knew immediately that Fox wasn't in the same league. Money isn't about stuff, it's about power and influence.

$45B is not enough to change governments. That's about 4 days worth of US federal spending.

Yeah but it's more than enough to bribe the hell out of a lot of senators.

Re: A letter to our daughter

#346

Post by ams6110 » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 4:27 AM UTC

peter303 wrote: post #255

agorabinary wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will this ~$45 billion go to efficient use? Based on his track record of $100 million to newark and how effective that was, I am skeptical. Good intentions in philanthropy are a dime a dozen, actual results are less common.

Improving schools is HARD for techies and non-techies alike. Education is one of the major iniatives of the Gates Foundation and Mrs Jobs main charity.

Dumping money in to a proven failed approach was not a great idea. He should have founded a separate school system instead.

Re: A letter to our daughter

#347

Post by dimdimdim » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 4:28 AM UTC

As I said in previous post --- if I were writing a letter to my son, it would be a private affair and not posting it worldwide on FB.

Also, there is a huge difference between pledging to donate during our lifetime and "donating". Anyone can make that pledge and then decide a comfortable schedule.

Re: A letter to our daughter

#348

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 4:30 AM UTC

CodyReichert wrote: post #253

Retra wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What problems do you think his letter is fixing?

The letter doesn't do much fixing, but the billions of dollars do.

[deleted]

Re: A letter to our daughter

#349

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 4:32 AM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #340

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I mean, what else are you going to do with $45 Billion? You are thinking about it the wrong way. You don't spend $45B on stuff for yourself. You spend $45B on changing the way governments and populations live work and how power is balanced. When Bud Fox asked Gordon Gekko "How much is enough" Gekko knew immediately that Fox wasn't in the same league. Money isn't about stuff, it's about power and influence.

$45B is not enough to change governments. That's about 4 days worth of US federal spending.

[deleted]

Re: A letter to our daughter

#350

Post by intjk » Wed, Dec 02, 2015, 4:32 AM UTC

anon4this1 wrote: post #104

I'm dismayed by the lack of focus on the environment here. Humans as a species are doing just fine. Health gains just marginally improve that. We need to focus on finding balance with nature that doesn't involve mass extinctions and subjugation.

I suspect he looked at his daughter and saw the faces of billions. Not to say you're incorrect.