World's wealthy worth $37.2 trillion and give <1% to charity

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  • RolandTD20Kdrummer
    RolandTD20Kdrummer Posts: 13,066
    Ahnimus wrote:
    Well, I don't think Nam was necessary.

    Well...it brought us the term "git some!"

    justification enough from some I imagine...
    Progress is not made by everyone joining some new fad,
    and reveling in it's loyalty. It's made by forming coalitions
    over specific principles, goals, and policies.

    http://i36.tinypic.com/66j31x.jpg

    (\__/)
    ( o.O)
    (")_(")
  • Eliot Rosewater
    Eliot Rosewater Posts: 2,659
    gue_barium wrote:
    The people of the river are happy to give.

    Don't you know that?
    well certainly not the people of the money river. "get down to the banks of the money river where the rich and powerful slurp."
  • mammasan
    mammasan Posts: 5,656
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    Point to where I said all corporations or wealthy people used unfair practices.

    Point to me where I said any of this:
    Secondly not all wealthy individuals obtained their money through unfair practices or policies. Not every CEO fits the preconceived mold, that you have created for them, of the greedy old man swiping his employees retirement fund to buy another mansion. If it wasn't for some of these wealthy people I would have a job nor would you

    Your right I was making assumptions. Sorry I'm in a shitty mood and just vented on you. Big asshole move by me and I apologize.
    "When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads." - Ron Paul
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    know1 wrote:
    http://www.globalrichlist.com/

    Would people here say that to be considered "wealthy" you should be in the top 10% in the world?

    That is interesting. I can't give you the percent I give. Hell, I don't even keep a balanced check book. :p I've never been good with keeping track of money. I will say I live pretty simply and don't splurge too often at all. I even buy used clothes at thrift shops often, hand wash my dishes and save plenty of other ways that help me be able to give more and pay my bills. It's not cheap to live here either.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • onelongsong
    onelongsong Posts: 3,517
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    I donate all the time, last week I renewed my amnesty international membership and sent extra...so what? Do I have to post ever time I donate to be able to have point here? That's ridiculous.

    Call it communism or whatever label you choose to demonize it with. The point still will stand. And I do believe people care about making the world a better place to live without having to be driven by money. I think that's a sad way to look at the human race and I don't share that view for one second. That's probably where our disagreement starts and can't get past.

    i don't think you should post whenever you donate. and i don't mean to imply that you don't. i'm sure you do.

    when the government started telling me how to spend my money; it went off-shore so they can't touch it. what doesn't go off-shore is invested in land. as the coasts evacuate the rising waters i'll make a killing selling them somewhere to live. even if that doesn't happen; the population grows every second. i used to share your opinion; but when the world started doing me wrong; i became selfish and greedy.
  • surferdude
    surferdude Posts: 2,057
    know1 wrote:
    http://www.globalrichlist.com/

    Would people here say that to be considered "wealthy" you should be in the top 10% in the world?
    I'm within the top 1%. Wow. Not sure how that makes me feel.
    “One good thing about music,
    when it hits you, you feel to pain.
    So brutalize me with music.”
    ~ Bob Marley
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    mammasan wrote:
    Your right I was making assumptions. Sorry I'm in a shitty mood and just vented on you. Big asshole move by me and I apologize.

    No problem. I was getting edgy, too. This topic brings out the emotions in me. Thank you, I'm sorry as well. :)
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • surferdude
    surferdude Posts: 2,057
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    No problem. I was getting edgy, too. This topic brings out the emotions in me. Thank you, I'm sorry as well. :)
    We still love you Abook. Even though the "We love you Abook" chant did not get picked up by my co-workers or go over that well. Fools, I must work with fools.
    “One good thing about music,
    when it hits you, you feel to pain.
    So brutalize me with music.”
    ~ Bob Marley
  • Ahnimus
    Ahnimus Posts: 10,560
    RolandTD20Kdrummer wrote:
    Well...it brought us the term "git some!"

    justification enough from some I imagine...

    I was expecting a war vet to reject the idea that all those people died for little to no justifiable reason.

    It's very difficult to accept an idea that all the loss was for naught.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • chadwick
    chadwick up my ass Posts: 21,157
    To me it makes no sense to have a 10 million dollar mansion.
    7 high dollar vehicales.

    Why not have a decent low-key nice home?
    Why not have fewer down to earth priced vehicales?

    I personally would not be able to sleep @ night
    if I lived in a mansion on a hill.
    I personally would not be able to sleep @ night
    with my precious collection of vehicales in my
    high dollar garage.

    What is the point to having so much, while so many suffer?
    for poetry through the ceiling. ISBN: 1 4241 8840 7

    "Hear me, my chiefs!
    I am tired; my heart is
    sick and sad. From where
    the sun stands I will fight
    no more forever."
    Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    surferdude wrote:
    We still love you Abook. Even though the "We love you Abook" chant did not get picked up by my co-workers or go over that well. Fools, I must work with fools.

    :D I love you guys, too. I know we are all just coming from different perspectives. :)

    Geez, don't they know? What's your co-workers problem? Haha! :p;)
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    onelongsong wrote:
    i don't think you should post whenever you donate. and i don't mean to imply that you don't. i'm sure you do.

    when the government started telling me how to spend my money; it went off-shore so they can't touch it. what doesn't go off-shore is invested in land. as the coasts evacuate the rising waters i'll make a killing selling them somewhere to live. even if that doesn't happen; the population grows every second. i used to share your opinion; but when the world started doing me wrong; i became selfish and greedy.

    I understand your concern. I hate the government the way we have it now. It's been bought out from under us and doesn't serve the majority of it's people. I also don't trust the private sector to do any better because they are the one's lobbying to have things the way they are now. They are already pretty much in control. It's a shitty situation.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • onelongsong
    onelongsong Posts: 3,517
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    The tsunami and katrina were all over the news. So many of the world's impoverished are left out of the headlines.

    nobody helped me. we were born dirt farmers in northern wisconsin. poor as church mice. instead of looking for a hand out we looked for work. now i see people posting that illegals do the work americans refuse to do. if these americans are refusing work; they deserve to starve. i recall eating potatoes for weeks because that's all we had. i've been there so don't paint this picture that they are poor and can't change it. i'm sure you're where you are because you worked for it. i doubt that someone handed you a check after graduation. you hit the streets and built your life.
  • onelongsong
    onelongsong Posts: 3,517
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    I understand your concern. I hate the government the way we have it now. It's been bought out from under us and doesn't serve the majority of it's people. I also don't trust the private sector to do any better because they are the one's lobbying to have things the way they are now. They are already pretty much in control. It's a shitty situation.

    and here's where we agree. you can't fix a problem by throwing money at a bad situation. this goes back to what i said earlier. produce a viable plan or organization and people will donate. hell; if bill gates was only allowed to make say 1 million a year and had to distribute the rest; i'd be there too. why work when there's free money being handed out. i'd pocket the money and go fishing.
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    onelongsong wrote:
    nobody helped me. we were born dirt farmers in northern wisconsin. poor as church mice. instead of looking for a hand out we looked for work. now i see people posting that illegals do the work americans refuse to do. if these americans are refusing work; they deserve to starve. i recall eating potatoes for weeks because that's all we had. i've been there so don't paint this picture that they are poor and can't change it. i'm sure you're where you are because you worked for it. i doubt that someone handed you a check after graduation. you hit the streets and built your life.

    You're right, I've worked for what I have. But I don't think it's the case of laziness when it comes to global poverty and hunger. I also know that circumstances we know nothing about play into everyone's lives. I don't think most of the less fortunate are just too sorry to try do better for themselves or are looking for an easy handout. Often the opportunities just aren't there. Sure there are bad apples, but I believe most people want to make a good life for themselves.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • surferdude
    surferdude Posts: 2,057
    chadwick wrote:
    To me it makes no sense to have a 10 million dollar mansion.
    7 high dollar vehicales.

    Why not have a decent low-key nice home?
    Why not have fewer down to earth priced vehicales?

    I personally would not be able to sleep @ night
    if I lived in a mansion on a hill.
    I personally would not be able to sleep @ night
    with my precious collection of vehicales in my
    high dollar garage.

    What is the point to having so much, while so many suffer?
    Good for you. But then I seriously doubt you take the risks necessary or put in the long hours and hard work necessary to change the world. When I look at what Bill Gates is doing to positively change the world and what your guilty conscious is stopping you from doing I can only think that the world needs more people like Bill Gates and less like you (and I).
    “One good thing about music,
    when it hits you, you feel to pain.
    So brutalize me with music.”
    ~ Bob Marley
  • CaterinaA
    CaterinaA Posts: 572
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    if everyone gave the percentage I do or others like hippiemom does then the problem wouldn't be anywhere close to as large as it is now.

    Hi Abook

    Just a little sidenote, speaking from a developing country point of view, even if Argentina is much more developed than Africa or most Latin American countries. I'm not so sure if the issue at stake is the actual amount of money being donated, but more how such money is being used. For example, during the 90's Argentina received via soft loans (very low interes rates and generous payment terms) the equivalent of approx. 6 Marshall Plans. What happened? Leaving plenty of other things that went totally wrong during such decade aside (mainly the Convertibility Law) our Government spent most of that money in current spending: political favors, thousands of consultants with huge salaries, their own personal benefit and the list is endless. Only a tiny portion was actually invested in things that could improve people's lives.

    The same could be said for Africa, the Continent receives billions of dollars par year, yet a huge share of it does not get to those who actually need it. In order to increase the efficiency of money donations corruption has to be seriously tackled, that's one of the reasons that many philantropists are increasingly doing things directly via Foundations and NGO's.

    Hey, I'm all for donating money, but I believe that poverty, hunger and such could be greatly aleviated if those in charge of third world countries would actually spend properly the money instead of keeping it.

    Just my 2cts.
    Caterina
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    onelongsong wrote:
    and here's where we agree. you can't fix a problem by throwing money at a bad situation. this goes back to what i said earlier. produce a viable plan or organization and people will donate. hell; if bill gates was only allowed to make say 1 million a year and had to distribute the rest; i'd be there too. why work when there's free money being handed out. i'd pocket the money and go fishing.

    I'd want to continue to make the world a better place to live for us all. If I had the money I'd love to start a free daycare here in my small town so that these families could go to work and make a better life for themselves. And also the children would be in a better place than being left alone or not cared for properly. I've had this idea for the longest time. It has nothing to do with personal gain...it has to do with wanting to give and help out where I've noticed a problem. Surely this world isn't filled with people who only do great things for personal gain.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • Abookamongstthemany
    Abookamongstthemany Posts: 8,209
    CaterinaA wrote:
    Hi Abook

    Just a little sidenote, speaking from a developing country point of view, even if Argentina is much more developed than Africa or most Latin American countries. I'm not so sure if the issue at stake is the actual amount of money being donated, but more how such money is being used. For example, during the 90's Argentina received via soft loans (very low interes rates and generous payment terms) the equivalent of approx. 6 Marshall Plans. What happened? Leaving plenty of other things that went totally wrong during such decade aside (mainly the Convertibility Law) our Government spent most of that money in current spending: political favors, thousands of consultants with huge salaries, their own personal benefit and the list is endless. Only a tiny portion was actually invested in things that could improve people's lives.

    The same could be said for Africa, the Continent receives billions of dollars par year, yet a huge share of it does not get to those who actually need it. In order to increase the efficiency of money donations corruption has to be seriously tackled, that's one of the reasons that many philantropists are increasingly doing things directly via Foundations and NGO's.

    Hey, I'm all for donating money, but I believe that poverty, hunger and such could be greatly aleviated if those in charge of third world countries would actually spend properly the money instead of keeping it.

    Just my 2cts.
    Caterina

    I completely agree with you.
    If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.

    Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
    -Oscar Wilde
  • cincybearcat
    cincybearcat Posts: 16,880
    Abookamongstthemany wrote:
    If you're not giving anything or less than 1% then yes, I think you are.


    Does that 1% include our taxes that go to social issues and the $ that goes to Social Security that I'll never see?
    hippiemom = goodness

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