Monday, December 7, 2015

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative‏


It is not everyday one gets to sympathize with a billionaire.
Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook announced his plans to give away all his money--about 45 billion dollars. Yet he has been savaged recent editorials. He has revealed a lot of faults in his effort at good will.
First, his aims of his charity have been attacked as vague.
Zuckerman defined them this way:
"Advancing human potential is about pushing the boundaries on how great a human life can be.
Can you learn and experience 100 times more than we do today?
Can our generation cure disease so you live much longer and healthier lives?
Can we connect the world so you have access to every idea, person and opportunity?
Can we harness more clean energy so you can invent things we can’t conceive of today while protecting the environment?
Can we cultivate entrepreneurship so you can build any business and solve any challenge to grow peace and prosperity?"
Well, they are a little vague.
Worse, his charity is suspect because he has structured it as a limited partnership so he can control it rather than giving it to someone else:
"The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is not even an actual charitable organization, but rather structured as an LLC. Unlike a charitable trust, which is compelled to spend its money on charity, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, LLC will be able to spend its money on whatever it wants, including private, profit-generating investment," someone howled.
Apparently others are more altruistic with other people's money.
The final criticism is that he is stealing money from taxes; I guess taxation is a really efficient way to do good works.
He is now trying to defend his charity in the press.

This is a new and vengeful age of altruism. 

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