07 August 2010

The HeartBeat: A Word From The Publisher

Billionaires Split Their Spoils

  This week Warren Buffett and Bill Gate's "Giving Pledge" at GivingPledge.org challenged billionaires to publicly vow to give 50% of their cash to charity work. Already 40 billionaires have joined in. It appears that being a Rockefeller is a waning dream for many. What gives?
   Speaking from an entirely theoretical point of view (sans billions), I would guess they have discovered that the cash is always greener on the other side of the fence. 
  Warren Buffett is quoted saying, "Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner."
   In making the pledge Buffett stresses how those who give time or sacrifice quality of lifestyle are giving "gifts far more valuable than money."  
   "This pledge will leave my lifestyle untouched and that of my children as well...And I will continue to live in a manner that gives me everything that I could possibly want in life."
   Instead of giving the billions in order to be remembered by billions, Buffett is giving in a way that will make himself one face in a crowd of other billionaires.
   Money, power, fame and love...only one of these motivators looks good when you get up close.
  Buffett acknowledged that "the asset I most value, aside from health, is interesting, diverse, and long-standing friends." Relationship trumps the Donald Trump lifestyle for this billionaire.
Let's hope the fat cats' pledges are a sign of a cultural shift in values. 

A Generation Apart

   If people freely decided that money would no longer be their primary motivation, powerful tremors of change would suddenly shake up the institutions of government, education, science, health and, of course, finance. If giving freely like Buffett were the aspiration of the average youth, then political parties couldn't sell themselves based on how they were taxing and spending. They would have to promote a greater vision that would appeal to a generation of "neo-idealists."
   It has taken five decades for idealism to resurface. Where one generation decided to turn on, tune in and drop out, another generation could turn out different.
  The Obama enchantment has faded for many. But the people who hoped for change are setting their sights toward a search for significance. We can only hope that the future holds more for our youth than radical arts, politics and drugs.
   This generation likes nothing more than fighting our world's deepest and darkest enemies: grinding poverty, human trafficking, children being used as soldiers... Some of these evils seem unstoppable.
   With the extensive work that Buffett has done with the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, I doubt Mr. Buffett himself even believes that his money alone will solve these evils. It does not take long for a humanitarian to see the difficulty of breaking cycles of poverty, injustice and violence.
   Relationship: the treasure of a billionaire. What if relationship is actually the elixir? If money was no object, would we finally realize that relationship was the key to overcome the evils this generation is fighting?
  A value shift about money would never be a silver-bullet solution for society. But it would be one giant leap to see a generation search for significance through relationship rather than cash.

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