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Will you make a pledge to give away all the income you make over the national median in your country/state/or province?
I am not saying this is the right thing to do, so please no hate mail. But if anyone would like to make a pledge to give away all their salary above the national median in their country/state/ or province, feel free to do so here. You can give away the money to a worthy charity or a neighbor, it does not matter. This was inspired by the President of Uruguay, known jokingly as the poorest president in the world (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20334136). He does this. I was hoping atleast ten people could pledge to do this, and we could stay in touch over the next couple years, sharing how it has changed our life. In years we make less than the national median, we can pledge to give 10 percent. Thanks for reading.
Marianne Delongi
tomas jones
John Smith 30+
Obey No1kinobe 50+
Suggest absolutely free markets do work well.
At the very least markets probably work better if participants are not free to lie and coerce.
There is probably no perfect system, but the best practical approach is probably a mixed one that leverages our greed, but with some limits, and some sort of safety net and collective contribution to infrastructure etc.
If we had lots of resources and information we could better Taylor support to individuals to desperate the freeloaders from those truly needy.
I'm okay if a few freeloaders get a pass in order to support those truly needy. Just like I'm against the death penalty in part to protect the innocent being murdered by the state, not to protect those guilty.
Jaeseung Park
A Person
Ben Jarvis 50+
Ben Jarvis 50+
i have a counter idea. most people are familiar with benjamin franklin, but i think not so many are familiar with his story. by his 40s he had become very rich from his printing business, and he realised he was getting enough income that he could live very comfortably without even working. he decided to retire and worked on his inventions, none of which he patented, so the people who had made him so rich (the general public) could also benefit and have their lives improved. all the rich are free to make this choice however only a handful feel any obligation to give back to the world that has given them so much and allow others to rise as well, so i suggest we tax all income over 100x the national average at 100%. perfect capitalism! you have an incentive to work hard and be rich, but you can't have so much that there's none left for other hard workers.
Tracy Oniya
Fritzie Reisner 100+
Kate Blake 50+
I can readily say yes as I don't have an income so there is little ability to earn so much. But I totally agree with Dnagers pledge below, At least he posted a profile!
A Person
No To Communism
Reading the replies posted I noticed that most of them are negatives. If people don't like to give part of their income away, why is it that actualy the same idea got Mr.O a second term in the office ?????
People voted for their income to be taken away and given away by others.
Anil Philip
Can you list for us your gross annual income the past 10 years, and then how much you gave away each year, and to whom?
I like to see people actually 'put their money where their mouth is' - I respect those who do. As they say, "Talk is cheap".
Unfortunately, people who have grandiose dreams often never look down to see the people in their lives who directly need help today and in small ways - and perhaps even in ways not requiring money.
So I urge you to actually start giving away your money and make notes on your observations and feelings and experiences. And then let's see how much you gave, for how long, and how you felt.
tomas jones
walter crockett
Dan Geurin 10+
I will give to charity if and when I see fit.
This all sounds like a lot of white guilt to me.
Barry Palmer 50+
I can understand why some people might consider your plan to be a challenge to their own beliefs and actions. Some believe that there are better ways to benefit the world. I do no know what is best, and hope that your project continues to bring you happiness.
Obey No1kinobe 50+
Michael O
Danger Lampost 10+
I pledge to do the most good I can with all the wealth I generate, to the best of my ability.
Arkady Grudzinsky 50+
Although I admire people like this, I would let everyone choose their own lifestyle and leave the question of how much they give away to their consciousness. Doing charity for PR is not considered a huge virtue, as far as I know.
Todd Westervelt
The median is not an accurate reflection of the "average" when the distribution is skewed as it is (stat 101).
If you were talking about the mean, that MIGHT be another story.
The point being made, however, in this question is not about EQUALITY - we are all considered equal in the eyes of the law here in the U.S. but we are certainly not equal in aptitudes, achievement, positive personality traits, etc. (don't bother asking that whether that is a product of nature or nurture - that debate is long over as we realize that we can't separate the two). The point is about EQUITABILITY and JUSTICE, for both the present generation and for those to come.
People say that the children are our future. No, they are not. WE are the future in how we shape our children's lives.
A more appropriate question might be, I think, would you be willing to sacrifice energy and goods in order to promote more equitability among all of us around the globe?
A Person
To respond to posts by various people, I do not care about equality, equitability, or justice. I don't believe in god. I don't want to give my money to a college girl who parties all the time. My personal belief (not that it matters or is something I want to discuss) is that communism is an evil system. If there are any other scenarios offered by posters that I forgot to address, I apologize. I care about my life. I am doing something that I know will make me happier, and am looking for a couple of pen pals so we can share stories and pictures over the years. The internet can be anonymous, so I thought this would be a good format. I thought people on a site like TED would be relatively well off, so maybe I could find a couple other people like me. Arguing what is good or bad was not the point of my post, I saw it more of a craigslist ad. If you sell something on Craigslist, you don't get 10 replies with people who don't want to buy the thing you're trying to get rid of, You either get zero emails if nobody buys, or you get one or two from people who are genuinely interested, have questions, or know someone who might be interested. Thanks for the reply, I see the flaws in the original question andI hope that I cleared them up for are any future posters
Arkady Grudzinsky 50+
10,000; 29,000; 30,000; 31,000; 35,000; 35,000; 37,000; 40,000; 41,000; 1,000,000
The median is 35,000, whereas the average is 128,000.
As you may see, the average is far more disconnected from reality than the median when there are "outliers" in the distribution (such as one individual making 1,000,000).
Todd Westervelt
Robert Winner 50+
Two girls went to college and one worked hard and got A's but little social life. The other partied all the time and was failing in all subjects. So under the socialist program that we all contribute ... the hard worker should give half of her grades to the loafer so both would have a C.
Sounds like a political party platform ... let the wealthy pay for all of us. Worked well in Argintina.
A Person
Fritzie Reisner 100+
A Person
John Smith 30+
To say that people who are not rich do not work hard is a direct affront to the laborers, farmers, soldiers, doctors, nurses, scientists and engineers who make the world go around while the rich pretend like they make a positive difference (they literally can't even beat a chimp on the stock market).
You don't get rich through hard work, you get rich through luck, connections, being more ruthless than other people and most of all through starting out with more money in the first place.
Robert Winner 50+
John in almost every post you look for the fight .... lighten up .... discussions do not have to be wars .... Just for conversation John from I know not where .. why do you hate the US so much. You never miss a chance to bash the US or Capitalism.
John I wish you peace of mind .... Bob.
Krisztián Pintér 200+
Jacqueline d'Etienne
Obviously, there are wealthy individuals who your statement is applicable to, but generalizing, making presumptions, and disparaging the rich because they make an easy target is poor form .
John Smith 30+
"It is entirely possible to earn a lot of money by working hard and smart, without stepping on anyone's toes or starting out with a financial advantage."
Yeah, that's called luck. Working hard and smart can make you do fine, live comfortably (if you live in the right country), but it won't make you rich.
"I know a number of very successful people who are self-made"
I know a lot of people who believe they are self made, but none that are. I myself am not self made either: my parents were poor by Western standards but when I was a teenager my monthly allowance that I didn't have to work for was more than the money made per month by those African women who work harder than you, I and all the people we know, ever will work. My qualifications for this, the same qualification for getting affordable health care and education? Being born in Western Europe.
But it doesn't end there, even if you get rich in entertainment or by opening a business that sprawls out, you're mostly just lucky, you just went viral and as all things viral that depends more on luck than any marked qualitatively difference (Gangnam Style really wasn't THE best song of 2012). It's just chaos theory. In any case it's not very common to become rich this way. Most rich people either come from money and/or got rich in the financial sector or as a corporate executive, whose successes can be explained by stepping on other people and random chance (they just get lucky a lot when they're young, making it look like they are miracle workers).
There's nothing wrong with being lucky, what's wrong is letting it get to your head, taking credit for it and using it to justify keeping other people down., yes, that's human but it hurts society a lot more when rich people do it.
Robert Vigerious
..while most of the others are stuck with their preference to the Bounded Rationality for Innovation (Herbert Simon), with a bit of constructivism.. :)
You know what? Entrepreneurship, just like innovation, can be described by all these models, each of one catches some of the characteristic of the whole, but misses something too. There's no answer more acceptable than the others (although nowadays nobody will sustain olympic rationality is true).
I suggest you all to read about these things in some papers grabbed online, it's very interesting and it helps into understanding this subject. ;)
Ehis Odijie 10+
Those who started poor all attribute it to hard work but they know better.
Arkady Grudzinsky 50+
Your example is not new. Read the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32. Who do you side with: the young son, the father, or the older brother?
This is one of the most controversial stories in the NT. It has no correct answer. It's there to spin it in our head over and over to understand our attitude towards giving and the concept of grace. Most people I know sympathize with the older brother. I think, it takes a certain spiritual maturity to "get" this story.
When it comes to morality of giving, I'm sometimes puzzled. On one hand, "Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.", on the other hand, should I do that at the expense of my own retirement or my children's education? Is it a good idea to give to an addict to feed his addiction and harm himself? Is it a good idea to give to a perfectly healthy man with a sign at a highway ramp thus discouraging him from earning his own living? (same idea as "do not feed the bears").
pat gilbert 50+
A Person
pat gilbert 50+
John Smith 30+
If I know it will end up in the right places and other people were doing their part too, especially the rich (I'm not gonna be their sucker), then yes, I think I would, but then again that's easy to say now since I make less than the national median, maybe I'll become more selfish once I start making more money.
A Person
John Smith 30+
A Person
Robert Galway 20+
I think a person's income should be reflective of many things including how long they work, how hard they work, how much they have risked in preparation for a job, the difficulty of the job, the need for the service, or the innovativeness of the product or service they offer. This concept sounds like something a socialist of communist country might promote.
I think every person should work for as long and as hard as they can in our country. hey should absolutely work until they can pay their own expenses for the rest of their lives. If they choose to not work at some point, satisfied with the lifestyle, they should be free to do so. In the event someone cannot meet the basic needs of life, the government should offer enough assistance to make sure they can survive at a reasonable minimum lifestyle. Failure to do this creates a group of people that are desperate and forced into decisions that could have the potential to diminish the lifestyles of those with no such burden.
A Person
Xavier Belvemont 30+
Surely there are more realistic ways to go about this issue.
Especially since the median is just that. a median. it obligates the exemption of (typically) the majority (both those ON and below the median) (and the lower majority seems to be the ones who would be the most willing to give money, atleast as I can see).
A Person
Krisztián Pintér 200+
A Person
John Smith 30+
Krisztian knows full well that your landlord and local grocery store won't lower prices for people who took the pledge so people in industrialized countries would starve if they only had the global median income. But your suggestion of sacrificing to help the poor sets off a tingling in his newly developing conscience, which scares the hell out of him (the village libertarian) so he tries to make fun of you.
Krisztián Pintér 200+
let me guess, your income is close to the national average.
A Person
Krisztián Pintér 200+
well, your system won't work too well if nobody participates over the median, will it? i advise to think about my question a little more deeply.
J Chang
A Person