Posted on 12/15/2010 8:57:28 AM PST by USALiberty
You may have heard of the trend of businessmen “Going Galt,” i.e., self-confidently declaring that until the government loosens the burdens of backbreaking taxes and onerous regulations, they will scale back their productive efforts rather than work as virtual serfs. (The phrase “Going Galt” is a reference to Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged.) Other businessmen, however, have decided to “Go Guilt,” i.e., to sign Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s “Giving Pledge,” vowing to give away most of the wealth they have earned. The recent news that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has signed the Pledge is making headlines.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.aynrandcenter.org ...
It stems from the idea that if you make money you’re talking it from others by denying them the chance to have their piece of the pie. Though, like Reagan said you can grow the pie. Collectivists either don’t realize this because the possibililty is outside of their narrow and warped perspective or they are simply too lazy to take the risks involved when it is easier to guilt others into giving up their $.
I disagree - in the past - there would be no need for guilt, because it would be automatic that people gave to their churches or other charities that helped their local communities, and they did so quietly.
I agree that they end up supporting and contributing to is perverse.
“A FOOL AND HIS MONEY....”
How much Soro’s pledge? What about Pelousy, Reid and the rest of the elites?
Voluntarily giving away one’s wealth is totaly different from government involuntarily taking that money.
But it should be noted that capitalist for profit activity brings more people out of poverty than any level of charity ever could. Consider Bill Gates.
Bill never produced the best operating system or software. What he invented was a capitalist marketing system that enabled a boom in technology that would not have happened without that marketing system. Consider what was out there to fill the void if Bill had not invented his marketing system.
In the Steve Jobs and Apple had no clue how to go viral. Radio Shack was the biggest retailer and clueless. Without Bill Gates, technology would only be 1/3 what it has become. Thanks to Bill, millions of people around the world have high paying high tech jobs. Millions of people have been lifted out of poverty by the Bill Gates capitalist marketing systemm.
No charity will ever come close to that success.
And what would Gates’ generosity do to the other outstanding shares of MicroSoft after his death dump?
long before communism, those ideas were being put forward by Christianity. Sharing your wealth with others does not equal communism.
I would say charity and sharing our wealth with neighbors are part of the American spirit, and a long part of our tradition.
If they really felt they should give it away why are they making a big deal of it.
Everytime Buffett or Gates says they are not taxed enough I want a reporter to ask them why they don’t voluntarily give money to the federal gov’t?
They have been saying that crap for at least 3 years. I want to see how much each of them and any whiner voluntarily sent to the US Gov’t.
I bet zero
This is just a publicity stunt
Facebook is a great tool for govt and advertisers to capture endless amounts of data on people.
I have no problem with these simple morons flushing their own money down the government toilet if that's what they want to do. My problem with these simple morons is that they apparently endorse the idea of big government forcing OTHER people to flush their money down the government toilet at gunpoint. I cannot imagine behavior more rude and selfish than that.
I hope he is giving it away out of benevolence rather than out of a sense of duty. Does he think that the recipient of the wealth deserves it?
Seems like these extremely wealthy folks manage to find ways around the 'death tax', while the families of small business owners get nailed, because in order to pay the 'death tax', they end up having to break up the business, and in the process, put people out of work.
I'm happy that Gates, Buffett, and others, want to give to charity, but at the same time they shouldn't be criticizing folks with less wealth who might want to pass that along to their families without the government latching on to over 1/3 of the bequest.
bookmark
I’m sure Gates has good estate planning with trusts, etc. There won’t be any stock dump. The MS future depends on the ability of its management to mature into a profitable legacy firm.
Will MS go the way of legacy firms IBM and HP? IBM is taking market share away from MS and Oracle right now.
Or will MS go the way of the many former tech firms that no longer exist, except as a small addendum to some other firm that took over their assets cheap?
New tech firms will soon make facebook, google, yahoo look like AOL and DEC. Will that happen to MS also?
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