Part 2: Alan Davis, Patriotic Millionaire, about ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’
A discussion of the necessity for the very rich to make a “Crisis Charitable Commitment” and give back from their wealth. Davis believes that many very rich people have “Excessive Wealth Disorder”. There are 650 billionaires in the US, for a total wealth holding of $5 Trilllion.
From philanthropy.com a conversation with Patriotic Millionaire Alan Davis Proud “traitors to their class,” members of the Patriotic Millionaires are high-net worth Americans, business leaders, and investors who are united in their concern about the destabilizing concentration of wealth and power in America. The mission of The Patriotic Millionaires organization is to build a more stable, prosperous, and inclusive nation by promoting public policies based on the “first principles” of equal political representation, a guaranteed living wage for all working citizens, and a fair tax system:
• All citizens should enjoy political power equal to that enjoyed by millionaires;
• All citizens who work full time should be able to afford their basic needs;
• Tax receipts from millionaires, billionaires and corporations should make up a greater proportion of federal tax receipts.
The Patriotic Millionaires’ book Re-Negotiating Power and Money in America outlines the group’s core values and suggests specific pieces of legislation to advance those values. https://patrioticmillionaires.org/about/
New Pledge Asks Donors to Step Up Giving Amid Pandemic – The Crisis Charitable Committment by Dan Parks
Congress Should Force Foundations and Donor- Advised Funds to Give More
Now (Opinion) by Alan Davis
Alan Davis is a member of the Patriotic Millionaires and president of the Leonard and Sophie Davis Fund. He was founder and president of Conservatree Paper Company, a wholesale distributor of recycled paper.
The Rich are getting Richer during the Pandemic
since the beginning of the pandemic The fallout includes 51 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits and marquee corporations, such as J.C. Penney, Hertz, Neiman Marcus, Pier 1, Brooks Brothers and J. Crew, filing for bankruptcy protection.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/07/22/the-rich-are-getting-richer-during-the-pandemic/#7219149f5c7e–
What is wealth for…ask these folks: The Guardian wrote that at the height of the pandemic, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg (his net worth ballooned by about $15 billion in 2020), Warren Buffett and Larry Ellison collectively witnessed their already incredible wealth increase by $101.7 billion between March 18 and June 17.
Foundations often borrow money, though they are holding huge cash reserves. They are able to earn more in investments than they pay in interest on loans. Average earnings have been about 10% per annum.
Another issue is that the foundations, because of their money and power, can control what we see, hear, and universities teach, by supporting their pet projects, and not others. This is an example of ‘gilded philantrophy’. The foundations are wielding great power as a result.
