
 |
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon With its colorful cache of purples and oranges and reds, COLLARD GREEN SLAW is a marvelous mood booster --- not to mention just downright delish
April 18, 2014
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Clarifying one of the greatest philosophical conundrums in theology
John Ericson: Trying hard to be 'positive' but never succeeding? Blame Your Brain
The Kosher Gourmet by Julie Rothman Almondy, flourless torta del re (Italian king's cake), has royal roots, is simple to make, . . . but devour it because it's simply delicious
April 14, 2014
Rabbi Dr Naftali Brawer: Passover frees us from the tyranny of time
Eric Schulzke: First degree: How America really recovered from a murder epidemic
Georgia Lee: When love is not enough: Teaching your kids about the realities of adult relationships
Gordon Pape: How you can tell if your financial adviser is setting you up for potential ruin
Dana Dovey: Up to 500,000 people die each year from hepatitis C-related liver disease. New Treatment Has Over 90% Success Rate
Justin Caba: Eating Watermelon Can Help Control High Blood Pressure
April 11, 2014
Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Silence is much more than golden
Susan Swann: How to value a child for who he is, not just what he does
Susan Scutti: A Simple Blood Test Might Soon Diagnose Cancer
Chris Weller: Have A Slow Metabolism? Let Science Speed It Up For You
April 9, 2014
Jonathan Tobin: Why Did Kerry Lie About Israeli Blame?
Samuel G. Freedman: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Jessica Ivins: A resolution 70 years later for a father's unsettling legacy of ashes from Dachau
Matthew Mientka: How Beans, Peas, And Chickpeas Cleanse Bad Cholesterol and Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
April 8, 2014
Dana Dovey: Coffee Drinkers Rejoice! Your Cup Of Joe Can Prevent Death From Liver Disease
Chris Weller: Electric 'Thinking Cap' Puts Your Brain Power Into High Gear
April 4, 2014
Amy Peterson: A life of love: How to build lasting relationships with your children
John Ericson: Older Women: Save Your Heart, Prevent Stroke Don't Drink Diet
John Ericson: Why 50 million Americans will still have spring allergies after taking meds
Sarah Boesveld: Teacher keeps promise to mail thousands of former students letters written by their past selves
April 2, 2014
Dan Barry: Should South Carolina Jews be forced to maintain this chimney built by Germans serving the Nazis?
Frank Clayton: Get happy: 20 scientifically proven happiness activities
Susan Scutti: It's Genetic! Obesity and the 'Carb Breakdown' Gene
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Dec. 13, 2006
/ 22 Kislev, 5767
Are the rich cheap?
By
John Stossel
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
I've pointed out in recent weeks that the American people are the most
generous in the world.
But I was surprised to learn the working poor give a larger percentage
of their income than the rich. Last week I did a TV special, "Cheap in
America," in which I playfully gave some billionaires a hard time about
what they don't give to charity.
Ted Turner is giving $1 billion to the United Nations. He got lots of
great publicity for that, and he told me that he'd like to give away
more, but he was too poor. "I've given away so much, and lost so much.
It's all I can do. I'm doing all I can. I'm worried about the viability
of our Social Security. I want to be sure that I have enough money to
make it through, you know, my old age, when I finally do retire, at
about 95."
But he still has $2 billion left. Isn't that enough? "Not enough! Not in
the way inflation you know, I was worth $10 billion about four, five
years ago, and I lost eight of it, so the other two could evaporate
overnight."
Dan Duncan had a different excuse. He's made $7 billion by finding
cheaper ways to pipe natural gas and oil from place to place. He and his
wife have given millions to charity, but their gifts are only about 2
percent of his net worth.
I suggested that maybe he was "cheap," and he answered: "Sometimes
you're better off to hold on to that money longer and make it bigger."
His wife, Jan, added, "It takes money to make money so that we'll have
more to give away."
That may have sounded cheap to my TV audience, but it's actually a
pretty good reason for Duncan not to give to charity. Great business
creators like Duncan and Turner waste their skills if they just give
money away. They do more for the world by creating businesses. Turner
started with 12 employees. By the time he merged CNN with Time Warner,
he employed 12,000 people.
Is there a better way to help the poor than by creating jobs
opportunities for self-improvement? And when businesses make useful
products cheaper and more plentiful, that helps the poor more than
charity. Discount retailers like Wal-Mart help low-income people
tremendously. Would Sam Walton have done as much for the poor by giving
all his money to charity? I don't think so.
That's what T.J. Rodgers, founder of Cypress Semiconductor, thought when
Turner gave $1billion to the United Nations, a bureaucracy famous for
squandering money. "What he said is patently stupid," Rodgers told me.
"What he should do is take his money and invest it. And to have the
companies and buildings and plants that are created with his investment
create jobs and wealth and products for other people. So running around
giving his money away is a way to maybe make himself feel good. But it
sure as hell isn't a good way to help people!"
It's a shocking comment in this season of giving, but it's also a good
point. We lavish praise on the philanthropist, but you can't give away
what hasn't been created.
Philosopher David Kelley put it this way. "Why do we think that giving
away money is better than making money? Giving away money is a lot
easier than building a new business or a new industry where you've
created something that didn't exist before. I have a lot more respect
for Ted Turner for building CNN at a time when no one thought it was
possible than I have for any possible good he could do as a
philanthropist."
I'll still give 20 percent of my income to charity, because I'm not good
at building businesses. But for those of you who are, no need to
apologize for creating wealth.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JUST OUT FROM STOSSEL
Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel --- Why Everything You Know Is Wrong
Stossel mines his 20/20 segments for often engaging challenges to conventional wisdom, presenting a series of "myths" and then deploying an investigative journalism shovel to unearth "truth." This results in snappy debunkings of alarmism, witch-hunts, satanic ritual abuse prosecutions and marketing hokum like the irradiated-foods panic, homeopathic medicine and the notion that bottled water beats tap. Stossel's libertarian convictions make him particularly fond of exposes of government waste and regulatory fiascoes. Sales help fund JWR.
|
JWR contributor John Stossel is co-anchor of ABC News' "20/20." To comment, please click here.
Archives
© 2006, by JFS Productions, Inc.
Distributed by Creators Syndicate, Inc.
|
|
Columnists
Toons
Lifestyles
|