Well, the world’s two wealthiest men made headlines in the past week or two. Bill Gates announcing he’s slowly phasing himself out of day-to-day operations at Microsoft, and now Warren Buffet annoucing he’s giving away 85% of his worth starting next month (valued at about $37B dollars today… yes… that’s a B, as in BILLION)!!

I’m a capitalist, and this overwhelming monetary amount of philanthropy is a direct result of unbridled capitalism! It’s a very public example of what goes on daily on a much smaller scale by people all across America. If you make money, you give some of it back. The more you make, the more you give. It should be your decision to whom that money is distributed, not your government’s. I don’t necessarily agree with all the giving philosophies of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but that doesn’t matter. It’s their money (and now Buffet’s and others’ too) and they’re calling those shots. That’s the way it should work!

I give to the MS Society, The V Foundation, BGSU, my church, and a handfull of other charities. I only wish I could give more… if so many of my dollars weren’t going to the government for pork programs, I’d be able to give more to the causes I deem worthy.

Back to Buffet… maybe my favorite quote of his is in regards to his decision years ago to not will all of his fortune to his children. When asked why, he responded, “a very rich person should leave his kids enough to do anything but not enough to do nothing.“

Tags: