The Sunday, November 27th New York Times' Sunday Review Section includes an article titled "Policy-Making Billionaires" (see link below) which offers interesting views regarding a very current trend. After reading it, summarize the article in the blog and post your opinion. Discuss your views in class for extra credit.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/sunday-review/policy-making-billionaires.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with the fact that accepting private money from philanthropists can be of great help to many associations and businesses, and also to the economy. Since the government is busy looking for a way out to the bad economic situation of the country and is also investing money that they meticulously count, I don’t see why people who have the will to give part of their fortune away should not do it, and even when that money it’s for a good cause.
ReplyDeleteI think that philanthropists contribute to the well-being and improvement of many communities in the U.S. The philanthropic money does not replace public dollars. This money which is private goes to places where the goverment's money due to the recession cannot be spend on. For instance, as the article mentions, Bill Gates foundation invests millions in public health initiatives. In the same way, Michael Zuckerberg donated $100 million to troubled public schools at Newark, NJ.
ReplyDeleteMissalys Perez
ReplyDeleteISS 2270
During times of economic constraint and hardships the ideas of philanthropists seem to to be of great help to small businesses, in my opinion. The donations given by these people will allow for the creation of jobs and at the same time allow small businesses to begin stepping out of the downfall they have been in for the past years. The philanthropists are simply trying to help the economy in ways that the government cannot at this time due to the low budget; I feel that this is a time in which government and people should allow themselves to be helped by others.
Private fundings are becoming a trend in aiding social programs througout the world. Billionares are funding for infrastructure, education, and job trainning programs that would otherwise be funded by the government. Organizations claim it's convenient because it speeds up the slow process of federal policy-making. However, opposers claim that it is undemocratic to allow private funding to take the place of what the governement has to be doing. With this said, I believe that private funding can influence greatly in terms of where the money is spent and how it is distributed. It might be undemocratic to allow billionaires to have direct influence on policy and budget making, but again, they have always influenced the government with their interests by funding politicians in elections and lawmaking. Therefore, it's preferable to have philontropic funding directly to social organizations rather than wait for our overnment to respond to the inmediate needs of the people.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is a great idea for philanthropists to give their money to schools systems, especially like the $100 million that Zuckerberg gave to the city of Newark. With the way our economy is currently struggling, philanthropists throwing in help with their money is something that can be used to better school systems in a major way. Not only school systems, but just like Howard Schultz is doing with the donations that customers give. He proposed using that money to open up an economic development and job training program for people how are unemployed. This can be of an asset to the millions of people in the United States who are unemployed.
ReplyDeleteI believe is a fairly smart choice to use philanthropic money to advocate, encourage, sponsor public services. It's been clearly stated that many of the needs of public services such as school can't be met because of our government lack of funds.Like mentioned many times in the article, this money given by philanthropist is not intended to substitute public money. However, there are risks , because the government in occasions has proven not to be a great administrator of funds destined to public services. Nonetheless, it's a great idea to provide the resources, then allowing the government to decide where should be best used, within the selected area or project. That way everybody keeps doing what they do,but at the same time collaborating with each other for the greater and common good.
ReplyDeleteBy the philanthropists donating money, they are tremendously helping our economy. What better way to spend their billions of dollars helping the less fortunate. The philanthropists donations are helping create jobs which is something we are in much need of. They are also helping restore schools and bring back programs and teacher jobs which were lost in the recession. These donations will help generate more money around our economy. I understand these dollars are not a replacement for public dollars, but it sure is help and i respect these philanthropist using their money for a good cause and not throwing it away on materialistic goods.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Billionaire philanthropist that donate money to help new and old programs and associations is a great thing for the country. The country is in a state of resession and the government is cutting back on programs that are beneficial to the community and society as a whole. By these billionaires donating their personal surplus of money it is actually helping out society by saving them money from taxes and keep those programs intact through tough economical times.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the idea of having philanthropists help the economy is amazing. As said in the article, these past years have not been easy, economically speaking. The fact that individuals of a higher socio-economic class are willing to donate millions and even billions of dollars to help the less fortunate is proof that the United States has hope to climb out of this hole it has fallen into. As for those thoughts that the philanthropists may be trying to gain power and take things into their own hands over the government; I completely disagree. These philanthropists are simply trying to give everyone a hand, whether individually, to small businesses, or to education.
ReplyDeletephilanthropists' decision mentioned in the article is right know key for the recovering of national economy. As an invisible hand they are taking some monetary responsibility belonging to the government. As Cami Anderson said: “We’re not thinking about philanthropic dollars as a replacement for public dollars,”...it couldn't be because of many political stereotypes but is definitely helping, and i think they should take part directly on helping government with injections of money even tough it is not well considered by the "opposition."
ReplyDeletePhilanthropists’ funds are always needed for social causes even if they are “extraordinarily benevolent or extraordinarily undemocratic.” However, the government needs fair warning of how the monies are spent. Would non-philanthropists intermediaries be possible to manage the accounts? Further, while red tape could be avoided to ensure that donations reach where they need to be expeditiously, there must be transparency. Why donors would want to cover up how or on what their contributions are spent?
ReplyDeleteNo, the government does not need to turn away money, yet at the same time if a philanthropist is uncooperative, it must take a stance. Besides, philanthropists like to play politics—dabble in policy-making. Although they are lobbyist, they are first and foremost, businessmen, entrepreneurs who want the public to be on their side. I feel certain that they will eventually conform for fear of boycott.
What is most disturbing about the article is that the government would follow the money trail before it answers the cries of the people. What do I mean? This is another case. We do not need this nation to be flooded with charter schools because organizations such as the Gates Foundation and the Broad Foundation of Eli and Edythe Broad said so. Administrations that commit to decisions of this nature will see their elevators race to the top and crash down. Sadly, we the people will pay the price.
Im all for the rich giving back to the community! Why not? Its adds a tailored approach to the needs and wants that we all look for. Before, charity donations to a school consisted of new text books or computers but all that did was lengthen the life expectances on these material items which students and teachers needed special training on how to use them! So it become some what obsolete.
ReplyDeleteBill Gates recently donated to MDC as well as other educational institutions across the county. What I like about this guy is that he is hands on with his money. He and his team, seek the need of what will help make substantial improvements and make sure to see them through all the way to completion. So yeah, he may provide a bunch of state of the art computers but he will also fund training to both staff and students on how to operate and utilize the programs!
After reading this article, I understand that people are skeptical of billionaires. This is because they want to decide what and where they want their money to be spent. I do not see a problem with letting them decided what they want to do with it. It is their money that they earned. Money equals power. If a person has money to give, then society should be grateful. I am sure that the founder of Facebook has good intentions to make school systems better. If his intentions were bad, people would not think twice about letting him dictate policies. Obviously, if there are so many complaints about the American system, then we must try different things. Everyone needs to stop getting scared of individuals who are only try to help others, who cannot help themselves. The difference between the government and billionaires is that one has been more successful than the other. Bill Gates must have done something right to become so successful. How about we open our horizons and follow in the footsteps of success.
ReplyDeleteI truly admire any one who donates to organizations, not only is it helping the organization but all who benefit from their services. Donations don't have to be million or hundreds of dollars what counts is the persons intentions even if it is 5 dollars. The donations can also help stimulate the our recovering economy. This is one of the few things i really do not see a downside to.
ReplyDelete