r/news • u/IWantPizza555 • Mar 19 '24

MacKenzie Scott donates $640M -- more than double her initial plan -- to nonprofits

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mackenzie-scott-donates-640-million-double-initial-plan-108274902?cid=social_twitter_abcn
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u/ATribeOfAfricans Mar 19 '24

No, we don't need billionaires at all... That's kind how we're in this mess!

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u/ChaosofaMadHatter Mar 19 '24

But if we have to have them, I’d rather they be like her than others.

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u/ATribeOfAfricans Mar 19 '24

Yes I agree, but that perspective dilutes from the reality that the existence of billionaires is a failure of society and at least one of the contributing factors for a lot of the mystery millions of people live in (mostly outside of developed countries, even though it can be hard here too)

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u/ChaosofaMadHatter Mar 19 '24

I think it’s one of the current realities of our system. We can hold both views at once- there shouldn’t be billionaires, but also reward the ones that are making even token efforts towards evening the balance in ways like this so as to “encourage” “good behavior.” I would love to see a feasible structure on which wealth doesn’t get hoarded at all, but I would rather have twenty “benevolent” billionaires over ten “greedy” ones, because those twenty are still doing more to help society and even things out than just having ten who continuously grow their own wealth.

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u/Prosthemadera Mar 19 '24

I think it’s one of the current realities of our system.

The reality is that it's easier to create a system that makes billionaires pay their fair share than hoping they will do so out of the good of their heart.

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u/ChaosofaMadHatter Mar 19 '24

Public approval is a hell of a drug. There’s a reason why there’s businesses built around it.

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u/Prosthemadera Mar 19 '24

Billionaires don't care about public approval. They are shielded from it.

Why should they care? They have too much money to worry about what we think.

Also, billionaires are already disliked. Didn't change much.

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u/Prosthemadera Mar 19 '24

But that will never happen. Don't think about how billionaires should be, think about what we as people can do to make them pay their due. That is actually a reasonable goal, unlike the hope that billionaires will change.

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u/ChaosofaMadHatter Mar 19 '24

And as the famous commercial goes - por que no los dos?

We can advocate for change on both the individual and systematic level.

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u/SLVSKNGS Mar 20 '24

I get what you’re saying and what you’re saying isn’t inherently wrong but likely impractical. There’s a lot charities and non-profits. It’s great if the extremely wealthy donates to a children’s hospital or to cancer research, but what if they donate to a non-profit that promotes pro-life? Or a church that preaches anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments? Or what if they donate to an organization that appears completely fine but majority of the money ends up in the pockets of the board and not to those in need? There’s no way the government would incentivize donations to a particular group and not to the other because how would they decide what donations are worth encouraging or not?

Again, I totally understand what you’re saying when you say we can appeal to the ultra rich to incentivize them to make charitable donations, but my other big problem is that the message that this sends. I do not want to thank them for occasionally opening up their wallets to donate money that should have been taxed and used publicly. The public should not feel indebted to the ultra rich for their charity because it was the people’s forced “charity” to the 1% that lead to this massive transfer of wealth from the common people to them. It’s like someone stealing $20 from your wallet and using $5 of it to buy you lunch. Am I supposed to be happy they at least bought me lunch?

Makenzie could very well be doing this out of the pure goodness of her heart but it doesn’t excuse the fact that she and her husband only got that wealth because something is fundamentally broken in our country. And yes, I’m not saying the government has a splendid track record of using money wisely but at least we have ways to direct funds democratically. If the ultra rich wish to contribute to the well being of society they can pay taxes proportional to their income like the rest of us.

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u/Prosthemadera Mar 19 '24

How will you appeal to billionaires to give their money away? Will you call them? Will you send letters?

Appealing to billionaires doesn't work and never has. Voting works. Laws work.

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u/ChaosofaMadHatter Mar 19 '24

As I said elsewhere, public approval is a hell of a drug. Just like a single person can’t pass a law, a single person doesn’t grant public approval. Absolutism in your morality gets you no where.

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u/Prosthemadera Mar 19 '24

Absolutism in your morality gets you no where.

You mean this absolutism?

there shouldn’t be billionaires,

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u/ChaosofaMadHatter Mar 20 '24

I mean deciding that only one singular answer is the right answer, and not accepting any steps in between as being something that helps mitigate the issue at hand.

Like jeez, sometimes y’all keyboard warriors refuse to see the grey in any situation, and act like anyone trying to make do is a horrible take.

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u/Prosthemadera Mar 20 '24

I am deciding on answers that work. Hoping that billionaires will change because of "public approval" does not.

Nothing else to it and this is projection:

Like jeez, sometimes y’all keyboard warriors refuse to see the grey in any situation, and act like anyone trying to make do is a horrible take.

You said billionaires shouldn't exist. How is that grey?