What good things would you do if.....
 

you had as much money as Bill Gates.

I live in New Jersey so I would do a lot of cleaning up in Camden, New Jersey. Its the most crime ridden city in the US, at least thats what i heard. Anyway, I would start by making a building. I guess it would have to be pretty big. It would serve as housing for homeless and a psychiatric center for their rehabilitation. They would start out living there for free until they had enough psychiatric help to start working and paying rent. Eventually they would be able to go out on their own. There is a lot more to the whole system, but it could take up five pages explaining it.

Then i would try to clean up the ghettos. I would renovate broken down houses/neighborhoods and make them affordable and pay for more police to patrol the bad areas 24/7. Then i'd start building strip malls and recreation centers or whatever else could make the place nice to live. The main thing here would be to create more jobs also. So people wouldnt have the excuse to go on welfare.

It may not work, but thats what i'd like to do.

Oh yeah, I'd buy the Philadelphia Eagles.

First, Make sure people i'm close with live a comfortable life.

I would put alot of money into giving animals that are endangered of going extinct, Big safe habitats. I would adopt alot of these animals too.

I would buy a huge chunk of land (50 or 100 acres) and build a massive shelter for homeless animals..and make that there new home, With more room than they need to get excersize and not feel trapped.

I would give money to womens abuse shelters, Every abused lady that came through the doors would have a chance at starting fresh, Anything she would need to get herself on her feet..It would be there for her.
I wouldn't make them stinking rich..I would be more of a stepping stone for them to escape there fears and start fresh.

Hmm..I'm gonna think about this, be back with more later.

I would develop fusion.....and thus.....save the world from itself

I would launch a major campaign to show the world that not all men like "super models" and that some of them actually LOVE their women with tummies.

Well, I'd pay off my parents' mortgage and move them somewhere pleasant, buy my brother a nice house, take family and friends on a first-class trip to somewhere extravagant, finally buy myself a new car... Then I'd donate to a ream of charities -- programs that help inner-city kids get to college, help people to read and write, and I'd create an endowment for young journalists to get an all expense paid, six-month mentorship of their choice, selected from a list of prestigious publications.

After that, I have no idea, honestly. Probably spend the rest of my life avoiding con artists, kidnappers, and people who cruise in the merge lane. On the bright side, I'd get laid a whole helluva lot, which would be a nice for a change.

I would like to encourage further industrialization of Near Earth Orbit - with the goal of creating a self-sustaining series of processing centres both in the Legrange points and on the surface of the moon. My eventual goal would be setting up an economy and infrastructure capable of handling the exploration/exploitation of the Asteroid Belt.

Our future is out there.

Buy an assload of rainforest (one assload being exactly 725 hectares). Attempt to set up a more accessible and improved educational system in areas of sub-Saharan Africa in the hope that people in the area could eventually at least compete with other countries in international trade and pull themselves out of debt (because we all know none of the countries they owe will help).

I heard that he became the worlds first trillionaire. And there is approximately 6 billion people in the world.
So, he could give every single person in the world $1 million and he'd still be a multi-millionaire.
Not that I'd do that. because there are a lot of people who wouldn't deserve it, so I'd give them $1 just to piss them off. :)

I'd hire an army of lobbyists to hand out "campaign contributions" and make congress do silly, silly things.

In the American version of the English language, words mean different things than in the British version.

British:
1 million = 1,000,000
1 billion = 1 million million = 1,000,000,000,000
1 trillion = 1 millionmillion million = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000

American:
1 million = 1,000,000
1 billion = 1 thousand million = 1,000,000,000
1 trillion = 1 thousand billion = 1,000,000,000,000

So, 1 trillion dollars is only about 150 dollars for each man, woman and child on the earth.

I'm most interested in furthering science, so I'd support things from the bottom up, like work on getting teachers a bigger paycheck, so maybe private schools. Then donate here and there, but put most of it into R&D (research and development). And maybe buy a better president. ;)

They already do that.. :D

(though I can see that might be sarcasm, 50/50)

i'd hold on to my cash until Castro dies.
then, i figure Cuba will go to the highest bidder.
i'd like to buy a Carribean island,
so why not the largest of the bunch?

it's among the poorest too,
so i'd share my $ with the Cubans
to try to get the economy rollin'.

then i'd kick back
and watch my mango, sugar, and tourism
empires take over the world.

mwuhahaha....

I'd buy my grandmother a 24 hour home nurse for her husband, and I'd get my other set of grandparents a house that didn't make grandpa need to go up stairs in.

I'd send money to open up womens hospitals and shelters in Africa, India and the middle east.

I'd open up the sex-ed store/clinic/counciling centre I've been dreaming of for my city.

I'd donate to the green party of Canada.

Oh man, there's so much I'd want to do.

Aside from all the great ideas here...

I'd hire a guy and go around town handing out money to folks who do things for me. I mean, if a guy holds a door for me, I'd give him $100. The woman who holds the elevator? She gets a $100. The kid in front of me begging his mother for some candy, but can't because she doesn't have the extra cash? I give the mom $100 to do with it what she will as long as she buys the kid something.

I'd give money to the local college and set up a some scholarships for deserving kids who don't have the money to attend.

I'd fund the local library's initiative to move to a bigger location and give them money to buy a whole bunch of books.

A couple of years ago, I saw this horrific car accident. A guy ran a red light and side swiped this lady's car sending her into a traffic light. The guy ran off and all the cops were left to go on was a vague description of the car until some fellow who worked at a local gas station came out and gave the cops part of the license plate number (I don't know why he chose to remember that). I'd give guys/gals like that money.

I'd set up a big ass house in the middle of nowhere to give folks (battered women, teenagers running away from abuse and the like) a place to get their shit together without having to worry about making the rent for a while.

Cello is right, there's just so much I'd want to do.

Yeah, but I'd make them do the silly things that I want them to do. If someone else got in the way, I'd have enough cash to hire their lobbyists away from them. Anyone who works in that field and bribes gov't officials to allow unethical things to happen is only doing it for the money, anyway.

edit: I want the boobie to be the national bird.

double edit: I just notice that this is supposed to be good things.

I'd find economically disadvantaged kids who can't afford school and send them through in exchange for a promise that they'll do the same for another kid if they get rich.

I'd open up community centers, starting with my town and a bordering city. My town has a youth drug/alcohol problem (lots of rich parents handing out cash instead of sticking around to be parents,) and the next city has a lot of poverty, drug use, and violence. If all these kids had somewhere to go 24/7 where they could play basketball, go swimming, play paintball, sit around and watch TV, or just have a place to hang out with friends, and a few professional drivers to shuttle kids around so the parents don't have to worry about their kids getting into trouble, drinking and driving, or picking up their kids late at night, then maybe some of these problems could be reuced. If I had tutors to help kids with work after school, and they could go right from homework to recreational activities, then students at subpar, underfunded public schools could have a chance to succeed.

After typing that last bit, I decided that I also want to open seceral secular private schools because I feel that our public school system is starting to go downhill fast.

I'd buy new houses, cars, and pay off debt for anyone who has ever lent money to my family or to me.

Naturally - I'd donate to the TFP.
: )

I'd give a shit load of cash to bootstrapping organisations (i.e. sustainable tech) and create it as a trustfund so that any exploitable inventions got the results of the patent income.

I'd set up a chain of really high class hotels in all the major resorts of the world, and sell at lest 15% of all the rooms at loss leading prices but make there be a residency requirement that the buyer has to come from a shit-hole. They can then either have a decent 5* holiday for the cost of a camping trip, or sell it on and make some cash.

I'd support churches in Muslim countries, mosques in Christian ones, Sikh temples and Buddhist whatever everywhere.

I'd endow a school of evolution science and put it in the building next door to the creation science foundations in the states - wherever they were.

And I'd hire a very good security team. ;)

If I was monster rich I'd ruffle some feathers.

And give money to any of the other causes that I see here tat make me laugh. :D

Firstly, I'd make sure that the money wouldn't disappear. To acheive this i'd start up my own company that will eventually churn out more cash (ala microsoft??), then i'd expand this company to scientific research in many areas. Especially in the fields of space (materials, propulsion, colonisation) and robotics.

On robotics, I would make robots which help in emergencies and detect and record crime activities. If they could be made self sustaining and repairing I would distribute thousands of these bots around the world to countries who wanted them. This in an example: A pedestrian hit and run has just occured. A robot would detect the disturbance immediatly and notify other robots. Some would chase and photograph the car whilst others attend to the injured.

On space, someone else said it before, the future is out there. I'd hope to catalyse the indutrialisation of space.

Another thing i'd do is employ a team of planners. Someone here said fusion would save the world...but, would we use our vast energy wisely? We'd probably all waste it and thus heat up the earth. The planners would plan for that.

Finally, make sure we can't destroy ourselves with war by developing strong defense weapons to disable any nukes flying over the earth etc. I would not give these weapons to anyone but myself :)

All this whilst giving to charities.

I would put it into funds for stem cell research or cancer or AIDS.

Hmm hard to answer that one (well and not drool). Family would obviously be taken care of. If you consider the trust accounts you can setup for chariteys that can get money on the interest alone would be great. It would help poverty not a one shot deal but over time. Diseases, hunger, poverty. But primarily I would concentrate more on education since to me the best charitey is to teach people to stand on their own.

I've worked in a lot of theatres that are sadly lacking in decent equipment (lights, audio) and especially rigging and safety gear. I would help outfit all the dingy little theatres out there with fresh gear and help them renovate to make them easier to work in.

I'm not being entirely selfish here. It would make my job easier, but also that of the myiad crew and support staff across the city.

A production shouldn't have to struggle with shitty gear and stifling spaces

What's with all this half-hearted benevolence? Buy a fleet of super carriers, an air force, lots of nukes, soldiers, etc. and take over the planet. THEN you can make a difference. If you're too squimish for that, work out a bribe plan for the leadership of all the major world powers - same end result.

Most of the great ideas here would eventually hit a political wall prior to full realization of any benefit otherwise...

I would set myself up, surrounded by creature comforts and comfort creatures. Let the benevolence sling around to a few friends and get them all settled in for life. Then, horde a good three-quarters of it for those 'emergencies', such as, finding a way to keep me alive indefinitely so that I may use my money even longer and enjoy this world's wonders. I do hate to rush a good thing.

Going for education
 

I would definitlely offer free education to people who want to make thier lives better. That means that some people may need to be supported in order to acheive good results in school... and that's what I'd do. (but beleive me there would be no room for slackers.. this would be accredited training with the same standards as any other institution.

"What's with all this half-hearted benevolence? Buy a fleet of super carriers, an air force, lots of nukes, soldiers, etc. and take over the planet. THEN you can make a difference."

Besides the whole genocide thing, how is that any different than the intentions of the Nazis?

Anyways, If I had all that money I'd provide funding for education in the Middle East and Africa and promote democracy in those regions and probably most of my money would go to charitable causes. I'd buy and manage an NFL or MLB team. I'd buy a TV station in order to play what is in my opinion good music and try to defeat MTV's bullshit station.

Of course i'd set aside one billion dollars for insurance and probably spend/invest the rest in different ventures of charity and business.

Of course if everything went as planned. One day I'd run for President and try to continue good work in that seat.

Donate at million dollars a year to various cancer research companies and I would create the first relatively inexpensive commercial jet fleet to fly people into space for a "tour" of the moon. And having my very own amusement park that I would allow disadvantaged children to be a part in.

I'd buy and develope Mars. Terraforming technology is quite advanced, and with the right amount of money it can be done. Of course, since I bought it, I'd get to design the social strutures, governments, and climate of Mars. Never above 80 degrees!!! EVER!!!