quote:

Originally posted by King Luis if a trend starts, it would be amazing. imagine if some of the middle east royalty contributed too, lots of good would be done in the world.

One could only hope.

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We are just going to have richer poor people.

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quote:

Originally posted by Cosmic Fur We are just going to have richer poor people.

Not if they use the money wisely.

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quote:

Originally posted by *~LiSa-LoO~* Not if they use the money wisely.

Unless you are living under communism, you can't have everyone "well off". There's going to be some richer people, some poor people everywhere.

For example, say 1 million is given to some small African town. Suddenly, all the townspeople have enough money to buy all the cornbread they want. But as soon as the cornbread producers realise this, they will raise the prices of cornbread. Inflation will occur, and the purchasing power of the villagers will soon go back down to what it was before.

___________________
I'm the trouble starter, fuckin' instigator.
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quote:

Originally posted by StereoPrincess he will have the skin cancer for sure.

Hahhaha my favourite part of your post is the smiley.

quote:

Originally posted by Cosmic Fur Unless you are living under communism, you can't have everyone "well off". There's going to be some richer people, some poor people everywhere. For example, say 1 million is given to some small African town. Suddenly, all the townspeople have enough money to buy all the cornbread they want. But as soon as the cornbread producers realise this, they will raise the prices of cornbread. Inflation will occur, and the purchasing power of the villagers will soon go back down to what it was before.

True enough.

quote:

Originally posted by VERTiG0 Hahhaha my favourite part of your post is the smiley.

Hahaha...now that I think about it...OMG!

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Well the thing is, they are not going to be giving money to the poor. They are giving money to the causes that help the poor.

These organizations have the right idea by not just giving it out money. They have to help build infrastructure with that money. A society can only start pulling it self out of the trenches when a reliable source of clean drinking water is established, when easily preventable diseases are stopped. This way the population isn't just dieing off in the middle of their growth.

Buffet has the right idea though. In his speech, he said that he was better at accumulating wealth than most others, which is obviously true given his proffession. I say let these people accumulate massive amounts of wealth and then start doing good with it.

From watching the speech, he seems like a very humble man who recognizes that he was blessed with an ability to invest. He said that, this ability may not have proved so usefull in another country or even another life time, and for that he was very happy to be living under a capitalistic system.

I am just blown away by this desture.

quote:

Originally posted by VERTiG0 You have cancer?

Not yet. *phew*

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Save Techno - Stop Minimal / Tech-House

Buffett pledges $30.7 b to Gates Foundation
By: Dan Nystedt
IDG News Service (Taipei Bureau) (27 Jun 2006)

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates may never see a more generous donation to the foundation run by him and his wife: a US$30.7 billion pledge from the world's second richest man, famed investor Warren Buffett.

The Oracle of Omaha, as Buffett is known due to his stock picking ability, on Sunday posted letters on his company's Web site pledging to give away over $37 billion to five charitable foundations.

The largest donation will nearly double the size of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's assets to around $65 billion, and make it the biggest charitable foundation in the world. The former number one, the Stichting INGKA Foundation, is a Netherlands-registered charity established by Ingvar Kamprad, founder of Swedish home furnishings giant IKEA. Its assets have been estimated at $36 billion.

In the first year alone, Buffett's initial contribution will allow the foundation to increase its annual giving by $1.5 billion.

"I greatly admire what the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is accomplishing and want to materially expand its future capabilities," Buffett said in the letter. "You have committed yourselves to a few extraordinarily important but underfunded issues, a policy that I believe offers the highest probability of your achieving goals of great consequence."

Bill and Melinda Gates quickly responded to Buffett's generosity.

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"We are awed by our friend Warren Buffett’s decision to use his fortune to address the world's most challenging inequities, and we are humbled that he has chosen to direct a large portion of it to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation," they said in a letter, adding they have enjoyed a "special" 15-year friendship with him. Bill Gates has played bridge with Buffett for years, and last December, the two anted up $1 million to fund a program to teach the card game to junior high school students in the U.S.

Gates also sits on the board of directors at Berkshire Hathaway.

Buffett pledged to give the foundation 10 million shares of stock in the company he runs his investments through, Berkshire Hathaway, in allotments over a stretch of time. The initial contribution to be made in July of 2006, will be 500,000 shares of B class stock in Berkshire Hathaway, he said in the letter. Each July thereafter, 5 percent of remaining shares will be handed over to the foundation.

The billionaire cited only a few caveats to his largesse, including a stipulation that his shares only continue to be given to the foundation so long as either Bill or Melinda Gates remain alive and active in its operations. The foundation must also satisfy legal requirements to qualify Buffett's gift as charitable so it is not subject to taxes.

In separate letters to four other charitable foundations set up in the names of his wife and three children, Buffett pledged an additional 2.05 million shares of stock worth about $6.3 billion based on the closing price Friday.

It's unclear why Buffett chose to set aside the bulk of his fortune to a non-family foundation. But the answer may be his belief in focusing efforts to achieve greater success, an idea he cited in the donation letters he wrote to each of his children.

"Focus the new funds and your energy on a relatively few activities in which [your foundation] can make an important difference," Buffett wrote. "Conversely, avoid making small contributions to the multitude of worthwhile activities that have many possible funders and that would likely proceed without your help. Consider working with your siblings on important projects."

Letters outlining his various donations can be found at this Web site:

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given funding to various causes, including the fight against Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, finding cures for cervical cancer and other diseases, providing computers to schools in the U.S., U.K., Chile, Mexico and elsewhere, and much more.

The foundation said it owned assets worth around $35 billion in its 2005 annual report. By comparison, the Ford Foundation held assets of $11.4 billion at the end of last year, while the widely-known Nobel Foundation, which announces the annual peace prize winners, had $450 million.


http://www.itworldcanada.com//Pages...df-53175d7910bb

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You know what gets me the most? Bill Gates is a heartless jerk...he didn't start donating to charities until just recently didn't he?

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quote:

Originally posted by *~LiSa-LoO~* You know what gets me the most? Bill Gates is a heartless jerk...he didn't start donating to charities until just recently didn't he?

Ummm... Bill's and Linda's foundation was founded in 2000. Not only that, I don't see anyone else doing anything similar.

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I'm the fear-addicted, danger illustrated.