I am sure you must be mistaken. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation surely does not encourage the killing of people.
Buffett's school of investing (value investing) regards monopolies and company's protected by the govt. as "good bets" because they have low risk and privileged status.
I found this web page. It lists the known holdings of Berkshire Hathaway. I am afraid it does not seem to corroborate your assertion. I am sorry to have to keep challenging your statements, but I cannot concede a point based on incorrect assertions.
Indeed. Foundations are one of the ways to do this. Available to the super-rich, but not to most of us commoners.
Our charitable donations are as deductible as Bill Gates's. Or at least I hope they are; I would not want to be audited!
Churches don't pay taxes, but they don't usually operate for profit, either.
The Gates Foundation does not operate for profit.
It used to be universally accepted that churches were a social good and should therefore be encouraged. The Founding Fathers certainly thought so. Of course, there are those extremists on this thread who would like to dismiss religion as a worthless fantasy. Are you one of those? ,/I>
It appears you must have missed my last post, in which I referred to the wonderful philanthopy of Christians. I find that it is better ot be careful about these sorts of challenges, as they often lead to ill feeling.
I don't see how Warren Buffett's bad politics support your arguments. He has been a bad influence in many ways. ,/I>
This was not my argument. My argument was that he is philanthropic, and apparenty an atheist or agnostic.
I never said atheists did not engage in philanthropy. However, there record there is pretty weak overall. A couple of super-rich guys do not outnumber the thousands of Christian philanthropists. (Besides, can you state conclusively what the personal beliefs of Buffett and Gates are? Do they advertise them? Are they in fact atheists? Agnostics? I don't really know. I wouldn't be surprised if they keep that secret, for business reasons.) In comparison, all the totalitarian socialist mass murderers in human history were militant atheists.
Neither Gates nor Buffett advertize their beliefs, but they are usually numbered based on limited public statements as atheists or agnostics, as you will find if you do a little research. And, as I am sure you will recall, Hitler was not a militant atheist, or indeed an atheist of any kind.
"I don't consider encouraging killing of people to be philanthropy."
Abortion is killing of people.
"Our charitable donations are as deductible as Bill Gates's. Or at least I hope they are; I would not want to be audited!"
Setting up a foundation is not just a "taxable deduction" like we peasants make. It's creating a self-perpetuating corporate entity, which can hire one's family and friends for generations.
My point was that churches don't pay taxes because they do not operate for profit. What does that have to do with the Gates Foundation?
I might also suggest you go into the average church (not some TV-evangelist's operation) and check out the salaries and office furniture compared to that in any billionaire's foundation. Check out how Salvation Army people live, compared to people at the Ford Foundation. Check out the medical missionaries in the jungle. There is no comparison. Case closed.
Sorry, I've studied value investing, and that school does like monopolistic companies, and those protected from fierce competition.
"Neither Gates nor Buffett advertize their beliefs, but they are usually numbered based on limited public statements as atheists or agnostics, as you will find if you do a little research. "
A "little research" won't tell you what their spiritual beliefs are, nor are they likely to say. They do seem to be liberal, yes. Beyond that, I don't know. If there is a simple answer to what their religion is, please let us all know.
"And, as I am sure you will recall, Hitler was not a militant atheist, or indeed an atheist of any kind."
I made that statement advisedly. Mao and Stalin make Hitler look like an amateur. In no way was Hitler a Christian, regardless of whether he was born into or raised in a Catholic home, or whatever. His beliefs were a crackpot amalgam of occultism, pagan Teutonic nostalgis, and (mainly) romanticism. Occasional orthodox-sounding language from Hitler can be dismissed as bombastic rhetoric served up to a population raised in a Christian culture. Everyone acknowledges that he was a demagogic orator with few peers.