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Originally Posted by guthmund
Yes and no. Bill Gates does give a lot of money to charity and I assume, as I don't work for the IRS, he pays his taxes just like everyone else. I feel that I should mention I am a big believer in personal responsiblity. All that being said, everyone needs help sometimes and I believe when provided with the opportunity to help your fellow man, a sensible citizen should use his "blessings" for the betterment of his society as we are only as "good" as the sum of parts.
Now that isn't to say that he should give it all away and while he has done some notable charity work, there is always more to be done. And while it is unfair to lay the burden at the feet of Mr. Gates, He has been extremely successful in his endeavors and has the means to do so much more. I don't mean to belittle what he has done, quite the contrary, I wish more people would follow his example.
To take from those that have to give to those that have not is not a violation of human rights, in my opinion. To live in a society where men like Bill Gates can work and earn a living certain prices have to be paid. It is his tax dollars that fund the police he calls on for protection, the firefighters he expects to come in his time of need, the military that keeps the borders of his country secure and funds dozens of other social services that he can call on when he requires it. To take forcibly is certainly wrong, but taxes (and I feel that that is what you are referring to. If I'm wrong, I apologize.) if I may use the well worn cliche', is the price we pay for civilized society and provides the means to maintain the order that allows him to thrive.
I'm certainly not advocating Bill Gates running himself into the poor house by giving it all away, but I do believe that there is a certain "social obligation" that has to be paid and there are other methods of payment. However, Gates was the example, so, I went with money.
On a completely different note:
I don't see why anyone would pick on pedro's grammar. It wasn't that bad. I could read it and understand it, which is more than I can say for some. For chrissakes, he even used punctuation. It wasn't absolutely perfect, (whose is?) but I think he did a fine job getting his point across.
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I value and appreciate your ideals, but the execution of it I find more damaging to our country then benificial. What I mean by this is our viewpoint on how much Bill Gates can give/gives to your society.
You may see (I stress may because I'm not a big fan of assumming other peoples posistion) how much more money he can give, the guys pretty rich and all.
I see how much he gives now, and constantly gives by Employing some of our work force with his MASSIVE company. This while also giving generous contributions.
The difference is, and this is from what I've noticed over time, is that people who earn their wage respect it and mantain it more. If Mr. Gates gave more and more, yes it's a quick fix for people but not everyone in our nation suffers for MS or some various disease that may cause them not to be able to work.
Normally if people are given something for free then rather having to work for it, then they realize they don't have to do much to get help.
So once again I respect your humanity, and in some ways I too support it by giving donations when I can. I'm just a very very firm believer that you should earn your lifestyle rather then having it given to you (yes this applies to both rich and poor).
This may have been discussed before, if men are created equal then it would be cool to see men charged equally for change. Non realistic I know, but the thoughts entertaining.