Secret Meeting of World’s Billionaires
May 24, 2009 by Cherie
Filed under Beautiful Words
Caught this awesome news story about a secret meeting of the world’s billionaires. Imagine the things they talked about!
The best part was that they were gathering to discuss charity. Apparently they talked about things that worked, what they could do, and the future of philanthropy. With the economy the way it is right now, these folks are an important part of our world. They could make a huge difference.
I love the fact that these richest of the rich folks are looking to see what they can do to help others. They obviously feel blessed, and not entitled. When you look at the world as though you’ve been given great gifts, you are more likely to pay it forward.
We can all do something, even if it is on a smaller scale. We don’t need to be billionaires, but we can take their example and apply it to our own life. Bringing goodness to the world doesn’t have to be about money. It can also be about time or the things we say and do.
I challenge Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to spend the obscene reserves held by their ‘Jolie-Pitt’ Foundation on legitimate efficient ‘humanitarian’ work or turn the funds over to others who will. To date, they have taken in $22,000,000 on the sale of baby photos alone, another 6 or 7 figures from other sources, and spent or granted only a fraction of that on ‘humanitarian’ work or ‘good will’ of any kind. The rest so far, has been spent on PR campaigns, plane rides, and super-high end accomodations for Brad and Angie in exotic locations around the world. I challenge them to operate with a reasonable overhead, open their books to prove it, get over themselves, and get their ‘foundation’ worthy of a decent rating by an independent watchdog like Charitywatch.org. Otherwise, to stop selling baby photos for their own ‘charity’ and stop seeking publicity for donations made in their own name to their own foundation/travel/PR firm within a week of their latest film or DVD release. I challenge Brad Pitt to do the same with his ‘Make it right’ Foundation. Which to date, has not been given a decent rating by ANY independent charity watchdog. Otherwise, to stop competing with ‘Habitat for Humanity’ for PR, credit, and funding. Who by the way have been building homes for the less fortunate in every major city including New Orleans for decades. ‘Habitat for Humanity’ has been ‘Top Rated’ for years by charitywatch.org and others. They operate with a low overhead, volunteer workforce, and donated materials. No similar effort can match their progress hour for hour or dollar for dollar. Unlike ‘Make it right’, the homes built by ‘Habitat’ don’t sit vacant. They don’t exclude by cost, lower income families. They are allocated and built specifically for the less fortunate who take part in the building process and move in immediately upon completion. ‘Habitat’ works in every major city including New Orleans. It puts ‘Make it right’ to shame. In fact, hundreds of legitimate charities have been given good-excellent ratings by Charitywatch.org and other independent watchdog groups. By contrast, the vast, overwhelming majority of celebrity ‘foundations’ have been rated poorly, fair, or not rated at all. They are inefficient, corrupt, focus heavily on PR, and operate with shady, self-serving, misleading accounting practices. Still, they have the nerve to self-audit, self-praise, mislead the donor/fan base, seek funding from a number of sources including ordinary people, compete with legitimate charities, and cash in on maximum PR for their inefficient ‘humanitarian’ efforts. Its not right.
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