this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2024
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The only good billionaire (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 weeks ago by saneekav@lemmy.world to c/memes@lemmy.world
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Feeney

https://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/news/former-billionaire-chuck-feeney-philanthropist-who-pioneered-giving-while-living-has-died-at-age-92

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[–] kautau@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yeah I mean his efforts to donate his wealth are admirable but he literally built his wealth off tax evasion systems

[–] HowManyNimons@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Exactly. If that money has been paid as tax, it might have done more good. He didn't want people to decide democratically how to spend the money; he wanted to control it himself.

[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

The article and author is very layman shall we say, and has obvious libertarian bias, but it has a point:

According to Forbes, this nefarious tycoon “has aggressively tried to avoid taxes at every stage in his career– from setting up his early business in Liechtenstein, incorporating his holding company in Bermuda. . .”

Feeney transferred his business interests to his charitable organization in 1984. And for the last 30+ years he’s given away nearly $ 8 BILLION through the foundation.

While the US government has been using your tax dollars to bomb children’s hospitals by remote control, Feeney has been building them.

He has endowed entire universities, funded cancer research, invested hundreds of millions in AIDS benefit to Africa, built a $ 300 million medical center in California, and developed a new technology hub on New York City’s Roosevelt Island.

These aren’t the actions of a narcissistic robber baron.

Th**e entire concept of taxation is grounded in the idea that some politician knows how to spend money better than you do. ** But Feeney opted for a different path: taking completely LEGAL steps to stay in control of his savings and make a huge difference in people’s lives.

I'm not trying to fanboy Chuck Feeney. If it had been proven that he was very exploitative of human lives and dignity to amass billions, I will change my opinion of him. However, the results speak for itself.

I would also add that the article has a point about it. In my home country, there is tax for citizens leaving the country. I was appalled not because I will lose money, but I know that my taxes will go to the then president and his family's fortune who unabashedly orders extrajudicial killing.

[–] HowManyNimons@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Reasonable point. I shall cogitate on that.