Rambling Thoughts: The other day, Ultima asked me to talk about Carlos Slim, who Forbes Magazine said was the richest man in the World. Ultima said:
"Now that Carlos Slim Helu has been declared the richest man in the world can we expect him to unveil a master plan for improving the lot of ordinary Mexican citizens and perhaps enticing some of them to return from the U.S?. Will he be subject to the same kind of criticism Wall Street bankers were in this country? What has actually done for el Indio Pobre de Mexico? His wealth is obscene and he should hasten to put it to work for his people. I'm not talking about museum and libraries with his name on them. I'm talking about using his wealth to achieve real social change in Mexico, defeat the drug lords, stop the killings in the border towns, and providing free tubal ligations and vasectomies as well as other birth control advice. With that kind of loot, he could probably even persuade the Pope to change the Catholic Church's view of birth control and abortion. Where's post on Slim's efforts to improve the lot of ordinary Mexicans? ..What would Obama say: let's redistribute some of Slim's wealth to pay for the repatriation of all illegal aliens and their minor children and to provide jobs for them in Mexico at a living wage."
Obviously Ultima is angry that a brown person is on the top of the list and upset Slim didn't use his money to clear up Mexico's economic problems. My question: Why didn't he say the wealth of the other men is obscene?
I decided to pull the Forbe's list of top 10 richest billionaires in the world. (see list above) I also looked up the reason they amassed their fortunes. Slim became rich because he made wise investments in telecom in the 1990s. Gates invested in his own business - computer software (Microsoft). Warren Buffet, another US Citizen, was next on the list. He invested in Investing.
All three men are philanthropists. They donate a significant amount of their money into improving our society. Slim donates millions into Mexico City's urban renewal. Bill and Melinda Gates have established a charity foundation. Warren Buffet donates a significant amount to charity.
It is interesting that the 10 richest people are all white males. I think Ultima finds it offensive that the man on the top of the list is Latino. He asked why Slim didn't fix all of Mexico's economic problems because he was so rich. Ultima didn't mind that most of the men on the list were from America, Europe and India and most were NOT doing anything to resolve their nation's economic problems, even with all of our dire economic troubles.
I found it interesting that 8 of the top 10 were self made men and did not inherit their wealth. And the two who inherited their wealth, inherited Oil and Steele. Most made their money from Technology and two made their money from Fashion. (You could say technology supported fashion due to innovation).
As long as the rich pay their taxes, I don't believe they "owe" us, the general public, anything more. They don't have to pay for the poor or stop drug abuse or all the ills of society. I think it is nice they voluntarily pay back society through their charitable foundations.
I certainly hope that Ultima is not making this request only of Carlos Slim. If he is, I think we all need to question Ultima's motives. Maybe we can all ask him why he made his statements? Ultima. Now is your opportunity to respond. I think we would all be interested in your answers.
Reference:
Carlos Sim Biography
Forbes: The World's Billionaires
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