The dolts at the New Republic have me defending Ted Turner:
Five years ago, zillionaire Ted Turner was showered with praise when he announced he would give $1 billion to the United Nations by the end of the year 2002. Since then, in addition to constantly wringing his hands over the implosion of AOL-Time-Warner-General-Motors, or whatever it’s now called, Turner has bragged, bragged, bragged about what a great guy he is because of his incredible generosity.
Well, it’s now the end of the year 2002. Has he handed over that $1 billion yet? No. Turner has donated $500 million, half his pledge. But that was less than 15 percent of his net worth when he made the commitment, and far, far less than the great philanthropists of the past, such as John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, once gave relative to their net worth.
Turner’s current net worth, according to Forbes, is $2.2 billion. This means he could easily keep his word, give the $500 million immediately and remain filthy rich, instead of endlessly promising. But why should he follow through when the media strokes and lauds him as if he already has–while Turner keeps the whole bundle for himself like a run-of-the-mill selfish rich guy, cackling as he counts his gold?
Point Number One: I know you hate the rich, but you come off as supreme ass-pirates when you call someone a zillionaire for effect and then state his wealth a 2.2 BILLION.
Point Number Two: Is it any of your Damned business what he does with his money? Is it any of your business how he fulfills his promise? When did you give a billion to the U.N.? Is the U.N. bitching?
They are probably just pissed that it is a billion less for them to confiscate when he dies. Then the billion could be spent on some asinine social program and REALLY wasted (although it is hard to compete with the U.N. for waste).