[FRIAM] Patriotic Millionaires

[Frank Wimberly]

I probably shouldn't volunteer to be a case in your argument but...

I do make donations to universities and a church.  Today my wife and
grandson Matthew assembled packages of hygiene products for Ukrainian
refugees which included things like towels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap,
shampoo etc.  This was done at United Church of Santa Fe.  As for financial
contributions we spend $20k per year for tuition at Matthew's school which
is a Montessori school for kids with executive function problems.  There
are a number of scholarship students whose families wouldn't be able to
send their kids there without help.

The church group put together 137 packages this morning.  We donated funds
for the purchase of some of the stuff.

Melinda Gates said that if you're a billionaire you can donate half of your
assets without any impact on your lifestyle.  But that's a different
question.

Frank

---
Frank C. Wimberly
140 Calle Ojo Feliz,
Santa Fe, NM 87505

505 670-9918
Santa Fe, NM

On Sun, Mar 6, 2022, 7:24 PM Eric Charles <eric.phillip.charles at gmail.com>
wrote:

> While some of the goals of groups like "Patriotic Millionaires" are
> admirable, I can never get past the blatant hypocrisy of it all. Maybe
> "hypocrisy" isn't exactly the right term. You could also see the part
> that bugs me as a bizarre worship of the benefits of authority over
> individual choice. Let me rephrase their primary claim: "I, as a rich
> person, recognize that I really *should *give more of my money to certain
> causes, but I adamantly refuse to do so unless forced to do so by the
> federal legislature."
>
> What is anyone really to make of that position? Is it any different than
> trying to look virtuous by saying that you know you should stop using child
> labor in your mine, while also publicly refusing to stop unless the
> government makes you?
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 3, 2022 at 3:08 PM glen <gepropella at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Obviously, I'm either procrastinating or unclear on how best to do actual
>> work today because here is yet another thing I meant to talk about with
>> someone, anyone, awhile back:
>>
>> https://patrioticmillionaires.org/about/
>>
>> A salon participant recently asked whether "greed" was our most nefarious
>> trait as a species. It's a great question for sparking discussion. My
>> answer was that the most nefarious trait of *all* species is myopia, the
>> inability to reason over externalities, from pond scum to the Trust <
>> https://raised-by-wolves.fandom.com/wiki/Trust>. But to de-emphasize
>> what people think of as "greed", I said "Trying to ensure you have enough
>> money to live out your life in relative comfort is not greed. Greed is,
>> after acquiring billions of dollars, you feel the need to acquire more
>> billions of dollars."
>>
>> I found Patriotic Millionaires prior to that conversation. And it seems
>> legit ... a set of outwardly greedy people who recognize limits to their
>> greed ... a recognition that there's a spectrum of merit, some luck, some
>> effort, some systemic infrastructure, etc. Overall, [m|b]illionaire
>> philanthropy (and especially effective altruism) seem like jokes to me,
>> very postmodern jokes. "Here, let me given you a billion dollars without
>> fundamentally rewriting your genetic code." Pffft. Give anyone enough money
>> and you'll corrupt them fundamentally, often against their will.
>> Philanthropists know this. Effective Altruism is an oxymoron. You can't
>> both be coercive and altruistic at the same time. >8^D
>>
>> Anyway, I'd welcome any opinion on Patriotic Millionaires.
>>
>> --
>> glen
>> When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
>>
>>
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