Mindfulness Matters

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Generosity as an Antidote to Greed: 40 Billionaires Donate Half Their Wealth

posted by Dr. Arnie Kozak

Has the Buddhist revolution begun? This Wall Street Journal headline, “U. S. Superrich Vow to Share Wealth” gives hope that perhaps the revolution has begun. Buddhism doesn’t have a patent on generosity and none of these philanthropists has cited Buddhist reasons for doing so, but doing so certainly embraces the virtue of dana (generosity). Nevertheless, these bodhisattvas are seeking to make a difference. 

One strategy to enforce generosity is through taxation. According to Timothey Geitner this woudl be bad for the economy. For people to give voluntarily because it is the right thing to do rather than because they are mandated to do so seems to make more sense. It also gives these individuals the ability to direct where there funds go and whom they should benefit, rather than going into government coffers to pay for whatever the government deems appropriate (and that seems rather always and lately on defense spending. 
Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle donated $46.9 million to his medical foundation, George Lucas, creator of Star Wars, donated $175 million to USC’s film school, Barron Hilton, son of hotelier Conrad Hilton, will donate $1.2 billion to the Conrad H. Hilton Foundation, Peter Peterson, co-founder of Blackstone Group, will donate $1 billion to the foundation bearing his name, and Patrick Soon-Shiong, CEO of Abraxes BioScience, donated $65 to Saint John’s Health Center Foundation. The effort towards such giving has been spearheaded by Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates. They have convinced 38 other such mega-wealthy to do as they have pledged. The goal that Buffet is aiming for is setting an example for others, not through coercion but through admiration and inspiration. 
Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg puts it this way, “Making a difference in people’s lives – and seeing it with your own eyes – is perhaps the most satisfying thing you’ll ever do. If you want to fully enjoy life – give. And if you want to do something for your children and show how much you love them, the single best thing – by far – is to support organizations that will create a better world for them and their children. Long term, they will benefit more from your philanthropy than from your will. I believe the philanthropic contributions I’m now making are as much gifts to my children as they are to the recipient organizations.”

To see the list of 40 donors and their pledge letter visit the “The Giving Pledge” website

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Marina

posted August 9, 2010 at 11:25 am


It’s about time…..so-called super-rich people will never suffer from giving. They make more money by giving half, or even most of their wealth away – by off-setting the donations on tax. The amounts you quote are peanuts to these people – their investments would feed a nation without the ‘philanthropists’ lifting a finger. Write an article about something really revolutionary…unlike the megalaires who don’t borrow from Peter to pay Paul….
Why don’t they pay for the complete medical system costs in their own countries?? Or supply an emerging nation with all their schools, teachers, materials – and ensure continuous training. Or make a better world by employing people in newly-created jobs? Help people to help themselves and give them the know-how and continuous support to sustain this.



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Jim

posted August 9, 2010 at 9:49 pm


All the billionaires listed here do not merit equal billing, IMHO. Gates built a company from the ground up that produced a product. Buffett invested in companies where he saw value. These two guys are class acts and seem genuine in their charity giving. But some of the others, I don’t know…If you enrich yourself by just buying and selling and splitting other companies, you probably displaced a bunch good people along the way.



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Eleana

posted August 11, 2010 at 5:13 am


I have always worked and now losing my job and Iam about to loose my House that I worked for? almost 20yrs I would like to have one of those God Blessed Billioner or mullioners to help me and sent a check to Bank of America so they can STOP taking my Home away from me when I still have two Children at home to take care of.
Please Help



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Dr. Arnie Kozak

posted August 15, 2010 at 1:50 pm


Thanks for your insight, Marina. I agree that these billionaires are not feeling the pinch from their donations. What’s promising about this story is the possibility that this represents a new trend. The limitation of this approach is that the money gets directed in ad hoc ways, particularly to the predilections of the philanthropist, perhaps even serving to aggrandize their egos. In fairness, I assume many are dedicated to an ideal of service. The idea is to transcend the poison of greed through generosity. Greed and selfishness are still rampant and the mechanisms don’t yet exist to for private citizens to finance public programs. I would also be concerned that individuals who make donations feel “off the hook” for the problems of the world. “Hey, I gave at the office.” For bodhisattvas, suffering can’t be transcended until everyone is freed from suffering.



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