I thought this was an excellent article.
The response of America's wealthiest corporations and individuals to the Katrina devastation is staggering, humbling and inspiring.
Note the first paragraph and the leftist mentality on this issue.
:banghead:
Source: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2005/1010/043_print.html
Wonderful Wealth
Rich Karlgaard, 10.10.05, 12:00 AM ET
Item from a hurricane Katrina-related Washington Post story last month: "John D. Podesta, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and head of a leading Democratic think tank, says Democrats must start by casting Bush's brand of conservatism--emphasizing an ‘ownership society' elevating individualism and private enterprise--as fundamentally flawed and hostile to society's collective responsibility to help citizens."
Really? The hole in Podesta's logic is of Category 5 size. Which groups did the better job in aiding Katrina's victims--government or the loathed individuals from the netherworld of "private enterprise"? That's easy: the private sector. Government, at all levels, failed New Orleans. Paralysis prevailed in the public sector--from Mayor Ray Nagin to Governor Kathleen Blanco to the Bush Administration. But it is the poor souls stripped of their dignity and initiative by living for 40 years under the umbrella of welfare who are paying the price.
Private wealth--from mighty companies to ordinary people--acted quickly and effectively:
• Wal-Mart, even before Katrina hit, had mobilized its world-class distribution network to stock New Orleans-area stores with bottled water, canned food and other essentials. It gave $3 million worth of items, $2 million to the American Red Cross and Salvation Army and has pledged $15 million to the relief fund run by former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. According to published accounts the Walton Family Foundation has donated $8 million to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund and $7 million to relief organizations, including the Salvation Army, America's Second Harvest, a food-bank network, and the Foundation for the Mid South.
• Microsoft engineers, in four days, developed Katrinasafe.org, a Web site to help evacuees locate missing family members.
• IBM and Lenovo sent more than 1,500 laptop and desktop computers, worth more than $1 million, to several Katrina relief groups.
• Home Depot gave $1.5 million to relief efforts. As of mid-September its employees, on their own, had given $700,000.
FDR Had It Right (Believe It or Not)
"Dependence [on welfare]," said FDR in 1935, "induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole our relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit."
The creation of wealth does the opposite. It builds up the human spirit. It strengthens the national fiber.
In this issue of FORBES we celebrate the 400 richest people in America, most of whom have inspired us and strengthened the national fiber. Their stories are amazing. Bill Gates got rich by selling tools of empowerment to regular folks. That wasn't enough for Gates; his foundation now gives away billions of dollars for medical research and drugs in Africa.
Google's Sergey Brin and Larry Page have gifted the world with free search. Do we ever stop to say thanks? In ancient times the Library of Alexandria held the collected knowledge of the Western world. Its more than 400,000 scrolls were the first systematic and serious collection of documentation on physics, literature, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, biology and engineering. The only trouble was that you had to physically be in Alexandria in order to tap into its resources. Now you can be in Bangalore, India or Bippus, Indiana.
Does it trouble you that Netscape founder Jim Clark is a centi-millionaire who drinks fine wine and sails on a 292-foot schooner? I think we got his efforts cheap! Thanks to the Web browser, for example, penniless pastors in Africa can walk to their post offices and download sermons and community health tips from Pastors.com.
The fruits of capitalism go beyond its ennobling products and services. Go to Forbes.com and type in "Katrina billionaires" in the search box. You can then read about American billionaires' charitable responses to the devastation of Katrina:
• Paul Allen, Microsoft cofounder, is giving $500,000 to the Red Cross for immediate relief efforts for food, shelter and medical care. He pledged another $500,000 to aid in longer-term efforts.
• Bill Gates and his wife are giving $1.5 million to the American Red Cross, $750,000 to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, $500,000 to America's Second Harvest and $250,000 to the NAACP. Meanwhile, Microsoft is working closely with local and state governments and businesses to help repair IT systems and is giving away $9 million in cash, technology and hardware.
• Michael Dell and his wife pledged $2.5 million to be used immediately and another $2.5 million to help in rebuilding. Dell's company pledged $1 million in cash, set a target of $1 million in employee donations and gave away computers, servers and storage units.
• Robert McNair, majority owner of the Houston Texans football team, and his wife, Janice, are giving $1 million to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to help displaced Gulf Coast residents now taking refuge in Houston. McNair has also offered to let the New Orleans Saints use Reliant Stadium, where the Texans play.
• Oprah Winfrey, the billionaire Queen of Talk, was one of the first celebrities to visit the Gulf Coast. A native of rural Mississippi, Winfrey delivered an emotional broadcast from New Orleans on Sept. 6, just days after the hurricane. Her charity gave $1 million to America's Second Harvest and reportedly shipped 500,000 bottles of water to the area via FedEx.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for effective government. But government's problems are for government to solve. Kicking America's "ownership society," à la Podesta, is never the answer.
Visit Rich Karlgaard's home page at www.life2where.com or email him at [email protected].
The response of America's wealthiest corporations and individuals to the Katrina devastation is staggering, humbling and inspiring.
Note the first paragraph and the leftist mentality on this issue.
:banghead: Source: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2005/1010/043_print.html
Wonderful Wealth
Rich Karlgaard, 10.10.05, 12:00 AM ET
Item from a hurricane Katrina-related Washington Post story last month: "John D. Podesta, former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and head of a leading Democratic think tank, says Democrats must start by casting Bush's brand of conservatism--emphasizing an ‘ownership society' elevating individualism and private enterprise--as fundamentally flawed and hostile to society's collective responsibility to help citizens."
Really? The hole in Podesta's logic is of Category 5 size. Which groups did the better job in aiding Katrina's victims--government or the loathed individuals from the netherworld of "private enterprise"? That's easy: the private sector. Government, at all levels, failed New Orleans. Paralysis prevailed in the public sector--from Mayor Ray Nagin to Governor Kathleen Blanco to the Bush Administration. But it is the poor souls stripped of their dignity and initiative by living for 40 years under the umbrella of welfare who are paying the price.
Private wealth--from mighty companies to ordinary people--acted quickly and effectively:
• Wal-Mart, even before Katrina hit, had mobilized its world-class distribution network to stock New Orleans-area stores with bottled water, canned food and other essentials. It gave $3 million worth of items, $2 million to the American Red Cross and Salvation Army and has pledged $15 million to the relief fund run by former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. According to published accounts the Walton Family Foundation has donated $8 million to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund and $7 million to relief organizations, including the Salvation Army, America's Second Harvest, a food-bank network, and the Foundation for the Mid South.
• Microsoft engineers, in four days, developed Katrinasafe.org, a Web site to help evacuees locate missing family members.
• IBM and Lenovo sent more than 1,500 laptop and desktop computers, worth more than $1 million, to several Katrina relief groups.
• Home Depot gave $1.5 million to relief efforts. As of mid-September its employees, on their own, had given $700,000.
FDR Had It Right (Believe It or Not)
"Dependence [on welfare]," said FDR in 1935, "induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole our relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit."
The creation of wealth does the opposite. It builds up the human spirit. It strengthens the national fiber.
In this issue of FORBES we celebrate the 400 richest people in America, most of whom have inspired us and strengthened the national fiber. Their stories are amazing. Bill Gates got rich by selling tools of empowerment to regular folks. That wasn't enough for Gates; his foundation now gives away billions of dollars for medical research and drugs in Africa.
Google's Sergey Brin and Larry Page have gifted the world with free search. Do we ever stop to say thanks? In ancient times the Library of Alexandria held the collected knowledge of the Western world. Its more than 400,000 scrolls were the first systematic and serious collection of documentation on physics, literature, mathematics, medicine, astronomy, biology and engineering. The only trouble was that you had to physically be in Alexandria in order to tap into its resources. Now you can be in Bangalore, India or Bippus, Indiana.
Does it trouble you that Netscape founder Jim Clark is a centi-millionaire who drinks fine wine and sails on a 292-foot schooner? I think we got his efforts cheap! Thanks to the Web browser, for example, penniless pastors in Africa can walk to their post offices and download sermons and community health tips from Pastors.com.
The fruits of capitalism go beyond its ennobling products and services. Go to Forbes.com and type in "Katrina billionaires" in the search box. You can then read about American billionaires' charitable responses to the devastation of Katrina:
• Paul Allen, Microsoft cofounder, is giving $500,000 to the Red Cross for immediate relief efforts for food, shelter and medical care. He pledged another $500,000 to aid in longer-term efforts.
• Bill Gates and his wife are giving $1.5 million to the American Red Cross, $750,000 to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, $500,000 to America's Second Harvest and $250,000 to the NAACP. Meanwhile, Microsoft is working closely with local and state governments and businesses to help repair IT systems and is giving away $9 million in cash, technology and hardware.
• Michael Dell and his wife pledged $2.5 million to be used immediately and another $2.5 million to help in rebuilding. Dell's company pledged $1 million in cash, set a target of $1 million in employee donations and gave away computers, servers and storage units.
• Robert McNair, majority owner of the Houston Texans football team, and his wife, Janice, are giving $1 million to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to help displaced Gulf Coast residents now taking refuge in Houston. McNair has also offered to let the New Orleans Saints use Reliant Stadium, where the Texans play.
• Oprah Winfrey, the billionaire Queen of Talk, was one of the first celebrities to visit the Gulf Coast. A native of rural Mississippi, Winfrey delivered an emotional broadcast from New Orleans on Sept. 6, just days after the hurricane. Her charity gave $1 million to America's Second Harvest and reportedly shipped 500,000 bottles of water to the area via FedEx.
Don't get me wrong. I'm all for effective government. But government's problems are for government to solve. Kicking America's "ownership society," à la Podesta, is never the answer.
Visit Rich Karlgaard's home page at www.life2where.com or email him at [email protected].
