[FRIAM] Patriotic Millionaires

Sun Mar 6 23:22:36 EST 2022

Eric,

Neither publicly nor privately.

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

505 670-9918
Santa Fe, NM

On Sun, Mar 6, 2022, 9:02 PM Eric Charles <eric.phillip.charles at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Frank,
> That all seems 100% positive to me.
>
> Do you also routinely publicly complain about how legislatures are lax in
> not forcing you to do more of that sort of thing, because you strongly
> think that you should do more, but are unwilling to without the government
> forcing you to?
>
> THAT is what the Patriotic Millionaires are doing.
>
> <echarles at american.edu>
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 6, 2022 at 9:43 PM Frank Wimberly <wimberly3 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 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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