Andrew Watson

Wealthy and Wise

Posted on 30. Jun, 2006 by Andrew Watson in Charity

On monday it was wonderful to hear of Warren Buffett’s wise decision to firstly deal with his weath in a responsible fashion, but secondly that he was not going to try and create a ‘competiting’ charity to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.

In an age where there are more and more millionaires in the world; 8.3 million people with over $1 million excluding residences and 793 billionaires, it is fantastic to see these two leading business men act in away that others can follow. At the end of the day you can’t take the money with you… so why not redistribute it?

Some months back I was listening about to the launch of RED, a campaign backed by Bono. I found the tactics of RED uncertain, mostly because there seems to be too much promotion of products, companies and Bono. I can not think of a time that Bono will or would ever stand up and publicly do what Warren Buffet did this week. With the further announcement that Bill Gates will take less of a driving seat at Microsoft to run his foundation full time, I hope that this foundation can become one of the greatest organised philanthropy causes the world has seen to date.

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to reduce inequities and improve lives around the world. In developing countries, it focuses on improving health, reducing extreme poverty, and increasing access to technology in public libraries. In the United States, the foundation seeks to ensure that all people have access to a great education and to technology in public libraries. In its local region, it focuses on improving the lives of low-income families.