Posted on 11/10/2005 6:58:15 AM PST by ZGuy
It's thier money. I wish they would spend more here but it's still thier money.
Atlas Shrugged
Their wealth has made them goofy. (Or they were goofy to begin with.)
Hey...it happens.
I think they all look like Orcs.
Part of what made them so financially successful is also their biggest problem.
Huge egos and grandiose sense of self.
Nothing new here...say Rosebud.
I don't see any problem with Gates spending his money to try and discover a vaccine for malaria. In places where DDT is on the banned list, the vaccine might be the only way to save lives.
My opinion:
Soros: wants control, so spends money on the useful idiots.
Turner: made money by play-acting and talking his way to the top. Doesn't appreciate it.
Gates: Similar to Turner, but less so. Has learned to play the political game of throwing money to Looting Politicians to get around Stupid Laws and Bureacracies.
What's wrong with them? They have reaped billions of dollars from the poor and disadvantaged. Something they preach in public entirely different from what they practice in real life.
Nothing is wrong with them...they realized the easiest way to "buy" power is to buy the left. The right is about individualism, there are just too many individuals to buy, even for billionaires.
They live in a rarified world. They do not understand ordinary people and are in fear that ordinary people spend all their time in green-eyed envy of the wealthy. They cannot comprehend that most people, even poor people, have more important things in their lives. They fear farmers with pitchforks, if I may use a metaphor.
They are aware that their security is no match for the hordes, so they supplement their protection with conspicuous virtue. They make a big deal about being virtuous and caring about the little people, hoping to stave off and attack.
It doesn't matter if it solves no problem as long as it is conspicuous. It doesn't matter what it costs. However much they give away, it is a small price for security and peace of mind.
In other words, they have no idea what people are really like, and they live in a kind of weird combination of luxury and fear.
Gates doesn't have the power to make the world take a rational approach to using DDT to fight malaria.
He is extremely generous with his wealth in helping those who are unable to help themselves. Developing a vaccine for malaria would save an incredible number of people's lives. It's a worthy cause, and possibly the best approach he has available.
What they are is not considered polite to discuss in public.
Is anyone sure that it really their money?
"It's thier money. I wish they would spend more here but it's still thier money."
Gates and Microsoft have made many people a lot of money and have done a lot for our economy.
However, I've noticed a trend with his donations. He helps people who for some reason cannot help themselves.
Gates wasn't handed a fortune from which he made a larger fortune. He made himself rich.
He donates money to schools, and to people in third world nations, but I don't see him donating to causes that help people who could reasonable help themselves.
Peter Lewis, at least, made his money exploiting the bad fortune of others. His Progressive insurance company offerred pool insurance to drivers who were not accepted by other companies. So, first pass a law requiring it, then soak the customers. At one point Progressive was charging me $900/mo to insure two cars, after State Farm declined to renew after two little snow accidents.
Well, all three are atheists.
All their money will mean nothing to them someday, and they will then realize they didn't find the greatest treasure in life---the Almighty.
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