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25 sats \ 6 replies \ @Bell_curve 7h \ parent \ on: Does this story show us the right way to do charity? culture
Maybe charity should not scale
I like the example of help your neighbors vs donating to your Parrish
Regarding philanthropy, it’s a status game. Why did Carnegie establish libraries and concert halls and universities? Legacy!
Do people even remember he was a steel magnate?
We are still talking about him today
A few months ago I gave my old car to my handyman. 2005 Infiniti. He is a documented immigrant from Mexico. He can stay. The other 20 million should self deport.
Maybe charity should not scale
Agree. Its likely impossible to make it scale.
BUT the rich will keep dumping their money into "United Way" and other mega-sized charities and the malinvestment will continue. Why will the rich do that?
Its the same problem Warren Buffet has....if you are trying to donate $200M, trying to find enough small charities at $50K each is impossible....so you wind up giving $25M at a time to the mega-charities. Much like Buffet trying to invest $30B of funds, he can only do that with bluechip stocks, there aren't enough quality small companies to absorb it.
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Didn't Buffet actually give most of his money to the Gates Foundation?
The Gates Foundation, BTW, is a rotten setup. I know some people who worked there.
Another similar story (I remember reading about this a while back and just asked AI to summarize it for me)
Joan Kroc, McDonald's heiress, bequeathed an unprecedented $1.5 billion to The Salvation Army in 2003 for building community (Kroc) centers. However, her will's strict conditions—requiring local matching funds and dictating how the money was used—created significant "golden handcuffs" for the organization. This led to slow, complex implementation, financial sustainability challenges, and concerns about mission drift, widely reported as problematic despite the eventual success of many Kroc Centers.
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Saint Jude’s hospital
City of Hope
Mayo Clinic
Donate money to private hospitals that rely on private donors
She used to own the San Diego Padres
The founder starring Michael Keaton is a great movie
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Give money charter schools
Donate to the military
Donate to air traffic controllers
I agree that rich people have a scaling problem.
Buy a professional sports team.
Build a new stadium.
Donate to cities with high crime and understaffed police departments.
Setup an anti Soros fund
Etc etc
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