By CCN.com: There are few people who represent elitist culture more than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
That’s not to take anything away from Jeff Bezos’ transformational accomplishments with Amazon. What matters when it comes to cultural elitism, though, is what one does when one becomes successful.
Warren Buffett’s success hasn’t changed him one bit. He’s as far from an elitist as one can get (even if you disagree with his BTC stand).
There’s a critical difference between elitists like Jeff Bezos and upstanding men like Warren Buffett: how they spend on philanthropy.
Jeff Bezos is worth a reported $108 billion. The WSJ reported that he just closed on a massive $80 million spread in Manhattan. The real estate not only includes a three-story penthouse on 5thAvenue, but the two units below it.
This makes Bobby Axelrod of Showtime’s “Billions ” look like a cheapskate.
One would think Jeff Bezos would have been giving money away zealously. That’s not the case at all.
He ponied up $2 billion – which is certainly a good thing – for the Bezos Day One Fund.
The Bezos Day One Fund will be devoted to helping the homeless and providing schools in underserved communities.
Certainly, that is to be commended. Yet, it pales in respect to what he’s worth and what his ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos gave.
MacKenzie Bezos received $36.6 billion in the divorce settlement. That makes her the 22ndrichest person in the world.
What did she do? She gave half of it away to charity. Half of it! $18 billion. She did this via signing The Giving Pledge, a charitable initiative developed by by Warren Buffett, and Bill and Melinda Gates.
MacKenzie Bezos said:
“There are lots of resources each of us can pull from our safes to share with others. In addition to whatever assets life has nurtured in me, I have a disproportionate amount of money to share. My approach to philanthropy will continue to be thoughtful. It will take time and effort and care. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty.”
Philanthropy is when someone has a true, honest, and selfless desire to help others.
Elitists do things for their own convenience and image.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Jeff Bezos is a Democrat, because Democrats have been historically more stingy than Republicans when it comes to charity .
After all, we don’t see Jeff Bezos making The Giving Pledge, do we?
How about other elitists?
Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris reported no charitable contributions from 2011 through 2013. Very impressive for a candidate who claims to stand up for the little guy.
Joe Biden gave away a whopping $5,540 in 2011 as Vice President, about 1.5 percent of their income. That same year, Mitt Romney gave 29 percent of his income to charity, or about $4 million.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who screeches against income inequality and demanding the rich pay their fair share in taxes, is the wealthiest woman in Congress. She’s worth more than $100 million yet her charitable foundation only has about $1.4 million in assets .