Saw a flurry of articles yesterday about Bezos saying he'll give away most of his wealth.
Looks like he gave $100M to Dolly Parton's charity. Not huge for him. Nice choice.
But here's the thing.
He can give away 90% of his wealth and still be one of the wealthiest people on the planet, to a scale that is obscene.
And his timing? He announced that as Amazon is laying off 10,000 people.
It's not charity. It's a PR investment and a distraction.
@tyghebright
I hold by the rule to never trust billionaire philanthropy. If they paid their fair taxes, their charity wouldn't be needed.
@ArcturusSaDiablo @tyghebright
Charities are useful for the (great many) causes that government overlooks or, through narrow-mindedness and shortsightedness, doesn't think are useful.
But charities cannot be a *replacement* for government assistance; charities couldn't fulfil that rôle back when government did little or nothing for the public welfare, and were primarily a way for donors to say "well, we're doing something!"
@tyghebright
World : “the planet is literally dying and if we don’t do something now, we’re all doomed. It’s gonna take huge investments.”
Billionaires: “I’m gonna give away all my money. Someday….”
@tyghebright Also who’s going to verify he does it? Nobody.