It's immoral to be rich

Being extremely wealthy is impossible to justify in a world containing deprivation. There is a lot of public discussion about inequality, but there seems to be far less talk about just how patently shameful it is to be rich. There are plenty of people on this earth who die because they cannot afford to pay for medical care. There are elderly people who become homeless because they cannot afford rent. There are children living on streets, there are mothers who can’t afford diapers for their babies. And all of it could be ameliorated if people who had lots of money simply gave those other people their money. It’s deeply shameful to be rich. It’s not a morally defensible thing to be rich. 

• White families in America have 16 times as much wealth on average as black families. This is indisputably because of slavery, which was very recent.
• Larry Ellison of Oracle bought the island of Lanai. It’s kind of extraordinary that a single human being can just own the sixth-largest Hawaiian island, but that’s what concentrated wealth leads to.
• Every dollar you have is a dollar you’re not giving to somebody else, the decision to retain wealth is a decision to deprive others.
• It is sometimes claimed that CEOs get paid too much, or that the super-wealthy do not pay enough in taxes. There is no problem in CEOs getting paid as much as the company decides to pay them. And taxes are certainly a tyrannical form of legalized theft. But the question is of the morality of their retaining wealth after it is given to them.
• The process by which those rich people attained their wealth is totally consensual. People on the right often defend wealth along these lines. I earned it, therefore it’s not unfair for me to have it. But the question is that regardless of how you have earned it, to what degree you are morally permitted to retain it? 
• It’s one thing to argue that you got rich legitimately. It’s another to explain why you feel justified in spending your wealth upon houses and sculptures rather than helping some struggling people. There may be nothing unseemly about the process by which a basketball player earns his millions. But there’s certainly something unseemly about his having those millions. 
• If the problem of inequality is systemic, and rich people do not really make choices but pursue their class interests, then asking them whether it is moral for wealthy people to retain their wealth is irrelevant and incoherent. 
• Giving away wealth in the form of charity is actually bad, because it allows capitalism to look superficially generous without actually altering the balance of power in the society. “The worst slave owners were those who were kind to their slaves, because they prevented the core of the system from being realized by those who suffered from it,” as Oscar Wilde ludicrously put it.
• Moral duty becomes greater the more wealth you have. The super-rich, the infamous millionaires and billionaires, are constantly squandering resources that could be used to create wonderful and humane things. If you’re a billionaire, you could literally open a hospital and make it free. You could help make sure no child ever had to go without lunch.
• Everyone who earns anything beyond is obligated to give away the excess in its entirety. The refusal to do so means intentionally allowing others to suffer, a statement which is true regardless of whether you “earned” or “deserved” the income you were originally given. 
• Wealthy people do give away money often in piecemeal and self-interested and foolish ways. They’ll donate to colleges with huge endowments to get needless buildings built and named after them. David Geffen will pay to open a school for the children of wealthy. Mark Zuckerberg will squander millions of dollars trying to fix Newark’s schools by hiring $1000-a-day-consultants. Brad Pitt will try to build homes for Katrina victims in New Orleans, but will insist that they’re architecturally cutting-edge and funky looking, instead of just trying to make as many simple houses as possible. Just as the rich can’t be trusted to spend their money well generally, they’re colossally terrible at giving it away. This is because so much is about self-aggrandizement, and “philanthropy” is far more about the donor than the donee. 
• If you’re a multi-billionaire, giving away $1 billion is morally meaningless and you’re still incredibly wealthy, and thus still harming many people through your retention of wealth. You have to get rid of all of it, beyond the maximum moral income. 

It is not justifiable to retain vast wealth. This is because that wealth has the potential to help people who are suffering, and by not helping them you are letting them suffer. It does not make a difference whether you earned the vast wealth. The point is that you have it. We should acknowledge that it is immoral to be rich. 

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I don’t hate capitalism, I just hate rich people.

If you are an egalitarian, how come you are so rich - GA Cohen 

Rich do not deserve their wealth - Robert Nozick 

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a business approach that contributes to sustainable development by delivering economic, social and environmental benefits for all stakeholders. CSR is the integration of socially beneficial programs and practices into a corporation's business model and culture. CSR makes the companies be conscious of the kind of impact they are having on all aspects of society including economic, social, and environmental. The four types of Corporate Social Responsibility are environmental sustainability initiatives, direct philanthropic giving, ethical business practices and economic responsibility.

• Prevent financial ramifications: Compliance with the spirit and letter of the law through self-regulatory processes will prevent fines, put your business low on regulators' radar screens, and lower legal expenses.
   
• Increase employee loyalty: Treating employees fairly and generously as a part of corporate social responsibility encourages high professional and moral standards increases employee loyalty and by procuring only those overseas products produced at factories where workers were treated ethically, you gain support among "Fair Trade" advocates.
   
• Maintain a positive reputation: Demonstrated consciousness in a variety of areas can garner publicity and give a business tangible proof of their conduct. These include

• ➢ Environmental consciousness: Reducing waste, recycling, minimizing carbon footprint, producing only sustainable products, lowering energy usage, and supporting environmental causes.

• ➢ Social Concern:  Donating to humanitarian causes that fight poverty, help the victims of epidemics, assist those displaced by natural calamities etc.

• ➢ Local Community: Involvement in local community projects, through donations, employee participation, connecting your customers, promoting the project through advertising and fundraising etc.

CSR is a concept with many definitions and practices. The way it is understood and implemented differs greatly for each company and country. Whatever the definition is, the purpose of CSR is to drive change towards sustainability.

Pros and Cons of Being Super Rich

• Riches improves quality of life. Most rich people are unhappy. Happiness can't be bought.
• It’s better to be rich than poor. And it’s nice to be super rich. 
• Affluent – Still have to work. If you are comfortable but still must work to support your lifestyle then consider yourself affluent. 
  Rich – Don’t have to work. Rich people means they do not have to work on stuff they don’t enjoy. They have time and they can do whatever they want with it. In America, net worth of  $10mn or higher are Rich.
  Super rich – Have to work to give their money away. Super rich are with net worth in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars and up. They have more money than they could ever need for their personal lifestyle. The question of not just what to do with their time but what to do with their excess money.
• It’s nice to be super rich. You’ll fly private jets. You’ll eat nice food all the time, you’ll have aides and servants who will save you time. Problem is as a person makes more money, expectations and desires rise in tandem, which results in no permanent gain in happiness. 
• The private jet doesn’t feel so special the 20th time you’re on it. Rather than marveling at the fact you’re on your own plane, you’re more likely to just compare it to other private planes you’ve been on.
• Happiness is the day to day bounce of emotions while happiness meaning is what you feel when you step back, take a minute, and reflect on what will go in your obituary. 
• A billionaire has said, “Nothing is going to make you feel better. Philanthropy is absolutely the best drug I’ve ever taken.”
• You can meet anyone in the world. The best part about being famous is the chance to meet other famous people.
• Unlike in the past, today there’s a tiny difference between the rich and the American middle class in terms of quality of life.
• Bill Gates has a bigger house than you or me, but for what really matters, we’re the same.
• Your quality of life is determined by the quality of your relationships.
• Any person you befriend while you are atop a perch of power is just trying to get something from you or so you suspect, and suspicion alone is enough to careen a relationship.
• Many presidents declared “no new friends” upon entering the White House.
• Being super rich can be lonely. If you try to talk about the perils of being rich and famous, someone will accuse you of self-pity.
• If you are a good person, the weight and duty of being responsible with the billions you have becomes a burden. And then it almost becomes criminal to pass that burden onto your kids. It is very hard not to have it run your life.
• Being super rich disconnects you from your fellow humans.  If you can’t remember the last time you waited in line at the airport, or if it’s been years since you drove your own car to a supermarket, you’re living in a different world. 
• Money changes your sense of morality, and usually not for the better. As you move up the class ladder, you are more likely to violate the rules of the road, to lie, to cheat, to shoplift, and to be tightfisted in giving to others. 
• Empathy goes down. It’s harder for the super rich to remain compassionate towards ordinary people.
• Perhaps wealth needs its own goldilocks story - not too much, not too little. Money is like gasoline while driving. You never want to run out, but the point of life is not to go on a tour of gas stations.
• Ideally you want to have a sum of money that is large enough to get most of the advantages of wealth but not its side effects. With enough money, you live entirely on your own terms.
• People are very critical of the wealthy in the UK. In the US entrepreneurs are celebrated.

That man is rich, whose pleasures are the cheapest ... Henry David Thoreau
Honesty is incompatible with amassing a large fortune ... Mahatma Gandhi 
In a country well governed, poverty is to be ashamed of. 
In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of ... Confucius

Living life of importance is egoistic, where as leading simple & frugal life has more fun and fulfillment. VIP life in total disconnect in a different world is just miserable. It is better to have sufficient money which gives security, freedom from compulsion to work and to pursue one's own interests & choices. Anything more is burdensome and less is fatigue. We should never lose things that money can't buy. Finally we should never consume more than what we produce. Wastage and  excess emissions are nothing but abusing nature.

Charles Francis Feeney - James Bond of philanthropy

Driven by a belief that the best use of one's wealth is to help people, Chuck Feeney founded Atlantic Philanthropies in 1982. By the time it fully ceases operations, the foundation will have made grants totaling more than $8 billion. Here’s the story of the remarkable man who made all that possible.

• On a summer afternoon, Chuck Feeney, 81, stepped off a train on his journey back and hobbled toward the turnstiles on sore knees. No commuter even glanced twice at the short one hand holding a plastic bag of newspapers, the other grasping an iron fence for support. The man who has done more for Ireland than anyone else slowly limped out of the station completely unnoticed. And that's just how Feeney likes it. 
• Chuck Feeney is the James Bond of philanthropy. Over the last 30 years he's crisscrossed the globe conducting a clandestine operation to give away a $7.5 billion fortune derived from his empire of duty-free shops. 
• His foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropies, has funneled $6.2 billion into education, science, health care, aging and civil rights in the U.S., Australia, Vietnam, Bermuda, South Africa and Ireland. Few living people have given away more, and no one at his wealth level has ever given their fortune away so completely during their lifetime. The remaining $1.3 billion will be spent by 2016, and the foundation will be shuttered in 2020. While the business world's titans obsess over piling up as many riches as possible, Feeney is working double time to die broke.
• A business dispute in 1997 forced disclosure of Mr. Feeney's funding for Atlantic Philanthropies
• Feeney embarked on this mission in 1984, when he secretely transferred his entire 38.75% ownership stake in Duty Free Shoppers (DFS) to what became the Atlantic Philanthropies. "I concluded that if you hung on to a piece of the action for yourself you'd always be worrying about that piece," says Feeney, who estimates his current net worth at $2 million. 
• People used to ask me how I got my jollies, and I guess I'm happy when what I'm doing is helping people and unhappy when what I'm doing isn't helping people. I see little reason to delay giving when so much good can be achieved through supporting worthwhile causes today.
• After graduation in 1956 and later got involved in the business of selling tax-free booze to sailors. By 1964 their Duty Free Shoppers had 200 employees in 27 countries. Japanese economic boom transformed it into one of the most profitable retailers in history. He remained obsessively secretive and low key, but the money was now too big to ignore.
• In 1988 The Forbes 400 issue exposed the success of DFS and the vast wealth of its four owners. It identified Feeney as the 31st-richest person in America, worth an estimated $1.3 billion. His secret was out, but there were two mistakes: First, the fortune was worth substantially more. And second, it no longer belonged to Feeney. Only a close inner circle knew of the latter that Feeney himself was worth at most a few million dollars and didn't even own a car. 
• Feeney is frugal. On the spending side he obsesses over value, and on the cost side, he loathes waste. He wears a rubber Casio watch because it keeps time like a Rolex. He flew millions of miles in coach because first class didn't get him to his destination any faster. Feeney rarely owned a car because they were difficult to park in cities. Feeney lives out of three foundation-owned apartments in Dublin, Brisbane and San Francisco, and crashes in his daughter's apartment while in New York. 
• He has aggressively tried to avoid taxes at every stage, despite gaining no personal advantage in his later years. Eventually, less taxes meant that he could give away more.
• The lesson he wants to teach: Don't wait to give your money away when you're old or, even worse, dead. Instead, make substantial donations while you still have the energy, connections and influence to make waves. 
• People who have money have an obligation and to use it wisely. That's why that man who obsessively guarded his privacy for decades has participated in the biography, publicly accepted an honorary doctorate.

Chuck has set an example...he is my hero and Bill Gates’ hero. 

He should be everybody’s hero. - Warren Buffett

Chuck Feeney is a remarkable role model and 

the ultimate example of giving while living. - Bill Gates

Timeline of  Atlantic Philanthropies giving away $7.5 billion.

Chuck Feeney: The Billionaire Who Is Trying To Go Broke

My View:
While it is ridiculous to compare great men, the 'man of the millennium' Paalam Kalyanasundaram from Tuticorin acclaimed as "an epitome of selfless service, is a fine example of simple living and high thinking" stands taller. He started helping people at very young age with what ever little he has, sacrificed his entire life for social service without marrying, without any publicity, without owning anything and leading simple & frugal life.