skeeter,
>you misstate warren's guiding principle. he believes that wealthy folks ought to give back to the society that made them wealthy. that's the guiding principle. giving to charity is one way to do that and warren supports everyone's right to do so on a tax free basis. warren would complain very loudly if anyone tried to take away TAX FREE giving.<
We are going around in circles.
I agree with everything you said above.
I simply added that his other STATED guiding principals are to get good value for his money and for his giving to reflect his personal values. That's why he chooses to give privately instead of giving back to society via the government. He admits he can't get good value and reflect his values via government.
What you and Warren fail to appreciate is that everyone else shares his desire to get good value for their money and wants that money to reflect their personal values too. They can't get it via government either.
However, they may feel that leaving all their capital to their children to continue investing in America's future to create jobs, economic growth, more wealth, high quality products etc.. is also giving back to society. They aren't burdened with guilt over their success, wealth, and high living like Warren is. They think they HAVE been making a huge contribution to society in life via their business activities, let alone in death. They think capitalism is a wonderful thing and that concentration of wealth in the most efficient hands does way more to help society over the long term than transferring it to government or giving it all away in the short term.
Neither you, Warren, or anyone else needs to agree with that perspective. But it's obvious that if you insist that those people give their money to charity or government, you are not allowing them to meet some of your very own standards. |
