A few days ago we echoed some very interesting statements by Bill Gates. To say the least, shocking. “Is something wild that we have billionaires“he stated in a podcast with Kara Swisher, at the Paris Theater of New York City.
The interview was to promote his Netflix docuseries “What’s next? The future with Bill Gates”where there is an episode, titled “Can You Be Too Rich?”.
The man, with a fortune estimated to be more than $100 billion. and that this puts him among the richest gentlemen in such an unequal world, he spoke openly about the absurdity of accumulating so much money that a person will never even be able to spend it.
It may also sound “wild” for such a millionaire man to say this, without doing anything with it. Gates leads, with his ex-partner, a foundation that states on its website this: “we are a non-profit organization that “fight against poverty, disease and inequality around the world”.
Gates’ inconsistencies
While the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation talks about inequality, its words can be seen as a paradox, in a world where inequality is the source of many problemsand in which Bill Gates has an immense fortune. According to Oxfamthe richest 1% accumulate almost twice as much wealth as the rest of the world combined…
It is more questionable when this person with so much money keeps getting rich every year, while his main function right now is his own philanthropic foundationcreated to help with causes of humanitarian aid to people really suffering from totally different problems. avoidable like faminein such an unequal world and in which there is food for everyone.
With all this, the question may arise of What is happening so that a billionaire person continues accumulating money every year while giving it away?. Or that is what their activity is based on today, giving away money for humanitarian causes. And there are many studies done to try to understand the situation.
Bill Gates’ philanthropy
Bill Gates has gone from founder of Microsoft to continuing to accumulate money, despite his philanthropic activities. In a recent interview, They literally describe that “He has spent decades giving away his fortune and working on some of the most perplexing challenges of humanity.”
Now, there are many interesting analyzes of how this philanthropy, this “giving away your fortune”, in addition to how nice it is to help others by “giving away” millions, has its B side. Its good public image has other nuances that can make us understand how Gates, after decades donating money to various causes and after Melinda French Gates’ divorce, which also received a large part of the money Because of the work and the Foundation that they managed hand in hand, he still has so much fortune.
To begin with, if “no one needs charity when there is justice,” There would be no need for this charity if the money in the world were better distributed in the hands of all people.and not accumulated in the accounts of Gates and other billionaires such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos or Amancio Ortega, to name a few.
Gates’ marketing to attract donations
On the other hand, The Nation reminds that an in-depth and important analysis of Gates shows that, in relation to his enormous wealth, the man is “giving away” a minuscule amount of money. And the question they try to explain is “how is it possible for the most generous philanthropist in the world to become richer and richer year after year.”
It must be said that this work gives him a very good public image, which leads to the conclusion that “the greatest beneficiary of the Gates Foundation has been Bill Gates himself.” Their marketing seems to be their greatest asset. two years ago declared that he wants “at some point get off the list of the richest people in the world” and to do so he wanted to donate his fortune to his foundationbut that hasn’t happened for now.
Unlike other millionaires who spend their wealth on seeing who gets to space first to compete with other millionaires, The founder of Microsoft has a public image that attracts more donors who want to be part of his charitable activities. Even organizations supranationals such as the World Health Organization They work hand in hand with the foundation and, although it is not known who all their donors are, there are large fortunes betting on the entity led by Gates. Even The United Nations has given million-dollar donations.
Many of its donors remain anonymous, but what is clear is that this Foundation has access to the great fortunes of the world. Warren Buffett He is one of those people who have given large amounts of money: In 2022 it was published that since 2006 it had contributed more than 36 billion dollars.
Tax incentives
Beyond this, there is a very important study by the Institute for Policy Studies, which analyzes How This Millionaire Philanthropy Is Actually Making Things Worse For Charities.
The report from a year ago, titled The True Cost of Billionaire Philanthropy, details how America’s ultra-rich They use charitable giving to take advantage of tax benefits while further increasing their already outsized influence on society, which ordinary Americans help incentivize through the taxes they pay.
The curious thing is that most people who make charitable donations in the United States do not take advantage of the tax incentive that exists and the curious thing is that only less than 10% of households even request the deduction, and these are among the richest households. Additionally, he found that when everyday people donate (and mostly without deducting) to charity, they are more likely to give to local nonprofits.
When billionaires who signed the Gates-Buffett Giving Pledge donate (mostly using the tax incentive in doing so), they are more likely to do so to their own private foundations and donor-advised funds (DAF calls).
As The True Cost of Billionaire Philanthropy explains, private foundations themselves can open DAFs and use contributions to meet the foundation’s distribution requirement and avoid transparency requirements to which the private foundation would otherwise have been subject. These DAFs have the potential, in short, to help donors save on taxes. According to publica The Giving Review“what began as a civic initiative to encourage generosity is, instead, serving to concentrate private wealth and power at the expense of the taxpayer.”.
There is another study called The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions from 2021. Senator Bernie Sanders himself has talked about this book to remember that “For decades, a secret army of tax lawyers, accountants and wealth managers has been evolving into the shadowy Wealth Defense Industry.”
In this book, inequality expert Chuck Collins interviews key players to show how this industry is doing everything it can to create and entrench hereditary dynasties of wealth and power: anonymous shell companies, family offices, offshore accounts, opaque trusts and fictitious transactions to ensure that the world’s richest pay almost no taxes. One of the ways to avoid something like this is through donations.
The life of a child can be saved for just $1,000, Gates said, echoing similar statements he has made for years. According to Gates’ own figures, his wealth could save more than a hundred million lives if he donated that money.
As concludes an analysis in The Nationit’s not like these charitable donations have never helped anyone. It is clear that the tens of billions of dollars that the Gates Foundation has donated have helped people. But these triumphs should be seen within the broader perspective of one person having money and helping another who doesn’t. “In At some point, we should understand that humanitarianism aimed at real human progress (equality, justice, freedom) requires us to question irresponsible power“of these people who amass fortunes.
Image | Xataka balcony of GTRES
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