If you’d like to be coercive and altruistic at the same time, and have some 
crypto, this group with handle the purchase of the ammunition.   Don’t even 
have to give your name.

https://www.comebackalive.in.ua/

From: Friam <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Frank Wimberly
Sent: Sunday, March 6, 2022 6:43 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Patriotic Millionaires

I probably shouldn't volunteer to be a case in your argument but...

I do make donations to universities and a church.  Today my wife and grandson 
Matthew assembled packages of hygiene products for Ukrainian refugees which 
included things like towels, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, shampoo etc.  This 
was done at United Church of Santa Fe.  As for financial contributions we spend 
$20k per year for tuition at Matthew's school which is a Montessori school for 
kids with executive function problems.  There are a number of scholarship 
students whose families wouldn't be able to send their kids there without help.

The church group put together 137 packages this morning.  We donated funds for 
the purchase of some of the stuff.

Melinda Gates said that if you're a billionaire you can donate half of your 
assets without any impact on your lifestyle.  But that's a different question.

Frank
---
Frank C. Wimberly
140 Calle Ojo Feliz,
Santa Fe, NM 87505

505 670-9918
Santa Fe, NM

On Sun, Mar 6, 2022, 7:24 PM Eric Charles 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
While some of the goals of groups like "Patriotic Millionaires" are admirable, 
I can never get past the blatant hypocrisy of it all. Maybe "hypocrisy" isn't 
exactly the right term. You could also see the part that bugs me as a bizarre 
worship of the benefits of authority over individual choice. Let me rephrase 
their primary claim: "I, as a rich person, recognize that I really should give 
more of my money to certain causes, but I adamantly refuse to do so unless 
forced to do so by the federal legislature."

What is anyone really to make of that position? Is it any different than trying 
to look virtuous by saying that you know you should stop using child labor in 
your mine, while also publicly refusing to stop unless the government makes you?


On Thu, Mar 3, 2022 at 3:08 PM glen 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Obviously, I'm either procrastinating or unclear on how best to do actual work 
today because here is yet another thing I meant to talk about with someone, 
anyone, awhile back:

https://patrioticmillionaires.org/about/

A salon participant recently asked whether "greed" was our most nefarious trait 
as a species. It's a great question for sparking discussion. My answer was that 
the most nefarious trait of *all* species is myopia, the inability to reason 
over externalities, from pond scum to the Trust 
<https://raised-by-wolves.fandom.com/wiki/Trust>. But to de-emphasize what 
people think of as "greed", I said "Trying to ensure you have enough money to 
live out your life in relative comfort is not greed. Greed is, after acquiring 
billions of dollars, you feel the need to acquire more billions of dollars."

I found Patriotic Millionaires prior to that conversation. And it seems legit 
... a set of outwardly greedy people who recognize limits to their greed ... a 
recognition that there's a spectrum of merit, some luck, some effort, some 
systemic infrastructure, etc. Overall, [m|b]illionaire philanthropy (and 
especially effective altruism) seem like jokes to me, very postmodern jokes. 
"Here, let me given you a billion dollars without fundamentally rewriting your 
genetic code." Pffft. Give anyone enough money and you'll corrupt them 
fundamentally, often against their will. Philanthropists know this. Effective 
Altruism is an oxymoron. You can't both be coercive and altruistic at the same 
time. >8^D

Anyway, I'd welcome any opinion on Patriotic Millionaires.

--
glen
When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.


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