A group battling Walmart has done some research into the chaitable giving of the Walton family.
“Key Findings:
- Rob Walton, chairman of Walmart’s board of directors, has not made a single contribution to the Foundation.
- Alice Walton, has not given a single dollar to the Foundation.
- Jim Walton made one personal contribution of $3 million to the Walton Family Foundation, more than 15 years ago.
- The total contributions of Rob, Jim, Alice, and Christy Walton, and their family holding company to the Walton Family Foundation amount to $58.49 million, equivalent to:
- 0.04% of their net worth;
- Less than one week’s worth of the Walmart dividends they will receive this year.
- Less than the estimated value of Rob Walton’s collection of vintage sports cars.”
Note those last three. Greedy, self-absorbed people, eh? You can read the full report here.
Next question. How much have you given to them? : )
Next question, The question
When you ask this question “How much have you given to them? : )” you have, as I’m certain you know, indeed aimed at the crux of the matter.
After all, is the 99% really just as guilty as the infamous 1%, or at the least, do they share the burden of perpetuating the greed of the rich and the unequal distribution so much complained about?
You'd think
You’d think they’d do it for the tax write-off.
No real reason to
(Taxes? What are those? Wr gabillionaires don’t pay taxes. My antique car collection is a write-off.)
I’m fine, I suppose, with people hoarding more money than they will need for multiple lifetimes. Good for them! They were successful in being born into a very wealthy family, one that realized the brilliance of selling poor people stuff that breaks and falls apart so often they have to return regularly to buy again, from exploited workers. There is the added brilliance of not paying benefits and letting taxpayers pick up the tab for increased poverty and health programs, increasing the family wealth.
The counterpart is that everyone has an obligation to give back to the society from which their riches were gained. The more one makes, the more one is obligated. The super rich seem to be forgetting this part of the social contract.
How about Vermont?
Congratulations progressives, you rank 48 out of 50 in charitable giving. Only Maine and New Hampshire are worse but I don’t expect much from wannabe libertarians and meth-heads. As usual, you all are a disappointment.
http://philanthropy.com/article/Generosity-in-the-States/133707/
And now back to the original article after these messages….
The chart also indicates that even with Vermont’s very small population of 630,000 people, total contributions come to 166 million or a contribution median of $1,548.
This is a cash poor state compared to states with much larger populations, so our “wannabe libertarians and meth-heads“ as you describe us, shows we don’t do too bad.
However, Vermont is known for its people who give much of their time and efforts to volunteer for social and arts programs that is equally important to giving money.
In another chart at the same site, the “generosity ranking changes when religion is taken out of the picture. People in the Northeast give the most, providing 1.4 percent of their discretionary income to secular charities, compared with those in the South, who give 0.9 percent.”
Out of curiosity- how much of
Out of curiosity- how much of your income do you donate every year to charity?
How many volunteer hours or in kind services do you give?
I think most people (unless you’re a trillionaire with no discernible conscience) give what they can afford. And, as Vidda pointed out, volunteering time is just as valuable as writing a check – sometimes more so. Smaller non profits and charities couldn’t exist without volunteers (our local library and Humane society shelter are two good examples of this)
I have always donated both time and dollars to causes that are important to me – some years I’m able to give and do more – some years less.
How about you,PutneyReject..what’s your contribution to a better world?
Naaahh. I'm thinking this is it.
Here’s ,more than likely, the real reason charitable giving is lowest in Vermont.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2013/10/13/the_state_with_the_biggest_drug_problem_it_s_vermont.html
Inevitable
I knew at some point in this thread someone would say that drugs were the reason for the low charitable giving stats. So, how do you then account for the very significant rate of volunteerism in our state? You think maybe people get high and then decide to go bathe some dogs at the animal shelter or go help out in a food pantry?
They are too wealthy. An intervention required?
Oh, this is rich. Another group looked at the richest people and determined what cities they could hypothetically purchase.
Bill Gates could buy all 114,212 homes in Boston at a cost of $76.6 billion, and still have a billion dollars left over (for home improvements, I’m sure).
Our friends the Walton Family could buy all 241,450 homes in Seattle at a cost of $111.5 billion. They’d only have a bit more than $40 billion left over. So sad.
The Koch brothers could buy all the homes in Atlanta with money to spare. Warren Buffett would have to settle for the 280,214 homes in Charlotte, NC. Mark Zuckerberg could get everything in Saint Paul, MN.
Which city can you buy all the homes in?
Tea for Two
I could buy a tea kettle for one or two of those Boston houses….they do like a nice cup of tea occasionally…
Not organic tea
But I could spring for a box of Red Rose.
So What
Good for them, it’s their business what they do or have, not our concern. They are the ones that have to live with it not us. Everyone is successful in their own way. Some people are good at making money while others aren’t, but just as good in their own occupations including giving money to others. I for one will never apologize for working hard, and what I freely do with my money is nobody’s business. You would never be happy unless they gave it all away and became homeless. Stop the class warfare, although you’er successful at it!
I think we are a long way off
I think we are a long way off from ever seeing the Walmart owners become homeless. I believe that we should all give back and that those who have made their enormous fortunes -literally on the backs of others- should be giving the most. Walmart is the biggest proponent of class warfare – paying their employees so little money that they have to rely on assistance while still working full time; offering no benefits; in fact, including in their employee orientation packets-information on how to apply for food stamps and subsidized health insurance. There is nothing honorable or decent (or even hard working) about the way that family has earned it’s money. Nobody is asking anyone to give all their money away but it’s the decent,responsible and moral thing to help out others who don’t have as much when you have more money than you could ever spend in 10 lifetimes. Of course, the words decent, responsible or moral are not words that are familiar to a despicable company like Walmart.
Nuts
Employees are at will from both prospectives, if you feel it isn’t working, get more education, start a business, and move on to a better area. The notion that an employer owes you the American dream from cradle to grave is nuts, you have to decide what you want, and go after it!
Owners and employees do not thrive in separate voids
Owners and employees do not thrive in separate voids. Using one’s free will to stay the same or move on to more fertile moneymaking pastures, whether as employers or employees, is pretty obvious. No one argues with the “do-it-yourself” mode which is long apparent.
However, wealth accumulation, particularly wealth inheritance, does not absolve anyone from social responsibility. Just because our economy is viewed and operated as capitalistic, it should not be used to build a moat between classes.
The intervention that Chris mentioned is the only way to break through the reserves of the rich, who think their wealth is inviolate. It is not.
Our Earth’s resources should never belong to one man, or a collective of men or any one nation.
The disparities between the few and the many are too great to be left to continue unabated and the “intervention” Chris alludes to is certainly long overdue.
Moreover, now that the so-called “Supreme Court” has given wealthy corporations a bogus legitimacy as personhood, it’s time for “real people” to step in and take from the rich corps that which they themselves are too unwilling to share.
Nobody said employers owe
Nobody said employers owe their employees the ” American Dream” but they do owe their employees some respect, a decent wage and humane working conditions. The Walton empire would not exist without those poorly paid,badly treated employees.
Human decency and a respect for our fellow human beings has to be a part of this. Not everyone is in a position to further their education and start their own business. We need workers- if we were all business owners who would do the actual day to day work one person can’t do? Just because a person is in a less skilled job doesn’t mean they should be treated as less than the rest of us.
Being a boss means being appreciative to the people who work for you. And to the Walton family -the people who enable you to make obscene amounts of money with which you do absolutely nothing good for your workers or the world in general.
Being born isn't "good at making money"
As I said, it’s fine that they are extremely lucky to be born into a family that makes billions by exploiting poor people.
The other half of that is to give back to the country that made it possible/. It was a standard that rich people for ages have followed – starting libraries, funding symphonies, helping the poor, and so on.
It is a new development that the super rich keep it all at the expense of the society that made it possible for them to do so well.
(Amazing that any non-billionaires, who will never become one in this rigged game of monopoly, supports them.)
They do not work hard. They aren’t good at making money. They were born with it, and have done nothing resembling work, ever.l. If they did I would have admiration.
Walton Charity
One area where the Walton Foundation have been active is in so-called educational reform. Not everyone would agree that their charity has been beneficial in this regard, but I’m sure they think so.