a convo with william gates, sr.~

a talk with william gates, sr. (bill gates' dad) today impressed me so much. while the first part of it is pretty boring, and his answers to the dean's questions were very "standard", he revealed a little bit of his true self when the students asked him personal questions as to why he chose to be such a huge philantrophist and all. while his replies were quite simple, they really surprised me because, perhaps i've been too shallow all this time.

when i think about the amount of money he & his family has donated to the world through the bill & melinda gates foundation, i realized that while yeah, they're only donating a small percentage of their total wealth, but isn't it still far more than what anyone would give to the world? i've always thought that, even though i'm richer than people (let's say), i'd just donate the same amount of money as anyone else. why would i give up what i have when i can use it for my own good? i guess Steffi's right... come to think of it, the world's two richest men are very big philantrophists. look at how much bill gates & warren buffet have donated (okay, i know the stats... they aren't the richest anymore, but still...). and bill mentioned something that really impacted me: "we should give back to the society because our wealth comes from them". okay, i guess i kinda rephrased his words a little, but i'm sure that's what he meant. as he said, his son wouldn't have created that piece of software that would make him the richest man in the world if other people before him have not developed the knowledge prior to windows. and he also said, "it's only by luck that a man can own so much wealth". perhaps that's true. i would've never thought of all that.

bill also mentioned about his beliefs that i happen to believe in too. what we have to do with the excess wealth is to create opportunities for others to gain more. redistribution of wealth (or the equal wealth theory) simply doesn't work. if that's the case, then the most hardworking man is no different than the lazy bum down the street.

okay, well i guess i'm not making a lot of sense here... very drowsy after taking my flu pills. yes, i'm down with a bout of flu and.... aahh.... i'd better get some rest.