castanyes blaves

Random ramblings about some random stuff, and things; but more stuff than things -- all in a mesmerizing and kaleidoscopic soapbox-like flow of words.

7/09/2006

 
Billionaire Buffet donates $37bn to charity

The most of his vast personal fortune is to be given to the Bill Gates' charitable foundation. Some may wonder if it is not a bit of a disappointment to give all this money to charity when you haven't been doing much else in your life than accumulating it. I actually think it is the last link in the chain that makes the world round. It is like the Greek circle of life: you spend your life trying to be good at something, producing to earn for yourself and your child, and then give the money you won't need to charity.

Mr. Buffett, the Omaha investor who ranks fourth on the Forbes magazine list of the richest Americans, said in an interview that he had not signed the petition itself because he thought it did not go far enough in defending "the critical role" that he said the estate tax played in promoting economic growth, by helping create a society in which success is based on merit rather than inheritance.

Mr. Buffett said repealing the estate tax "would be a terrible mistake," the equivalent of "choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics."

"We would regard that as absolute folly in terms of athletic competition," he said.

"We have come closer to a true meritocracy than anywhere else around the world," he said. "You have mobility so people with talents can be put to the best use. Without the estate tax, you in effect will have an aristocracy of wealth, which means you pass down the ability to command the resources of the nation based on heredity rather than merit."


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