Spare Change
If I had a million dollars...
I'd buy you a monkey (haven't you
always wanted a monkey?!)
Words and music by Steven Page and Ed
Robertson
One may learn
a lot about a person if they're able to determine what that
person does with their disposable income
("spare change" to those who don't
have much extra cash to begin with).
Some save, many invest, others contribute
to charity, while a select few are able
to ...start their own philanthropic
foundations. This week it was announced
that Microsoft Chairman and
cybergeek extra ordinem,
Bill Gates, has given his own foundation six billion
dollars, raising the foundation's coffers
to a seventeen billion dollar level. Some
dream of buying the world a Coke, but
with this type of "spare change" we're
talking about buying the world a burger
and large fries to go with that Coke!
Seventeen billion is some serious disposable
income!
Most of us have,
at one time or another, attempted to provide an honest
answer to the question, "What would you
do with a million dollars?" Well, for
Bill Gates it's a question of: "What would
you do with seventy-seven billion
dollars?" And, to his credit, it
appears Bill has surprised many by trying to do
some good things with his money.
Well done, dude!
After spending
eight years working in Chicago doing freight-work at various
conventions and often being assigned a
crew of several to dozens of either
homeless or down-on-their-luck guys, I
became emotionally attached to such
inner-city problems as shelter, food,
clothes, and medical attention. Chicago has
a functioning support-system, better than
most cities, but I found myself on
occasion indulging in the pecuniary fantasy
that if I had a million dollars ...I'd set
up a 24 hours a day restaurant, with a
full menu, daily specials, and simply give
food away. Though the soup-kitchens
and sandwich vans of Chicago
accomplish much, those on the street could
use some fish, fresh veggies, and a
salad every now and then. It was
just a responsive fantasy... The odds are
minute that I'll ever have a million dollars.
Greed often transcends
charitable inclinations, as demonstrated by the many
recent lottery millionaires who've squandered
their winnings and were forced to
file for bankruptcy. Human nature
is such a fickle thing! "Give 'til it hurts," is a
popular moral suggestion, yet we're hard-wired
for survival, and our software
seems to be some beta-version of a program
which specifies, "Yes, give 'til it
hurts, but stop when it hurts too much!"
We sway from online liberalism to
offline conservatism without being aware
of stepping away from the computer.
However, in reality, such choices are
inherently complex toward the top of the
social ladder and nearly non-existent
near the bottom, where most of the rest of
the world struggles.
In the 1970's,
the late Dr. Timothy Leary advanced a proposed solution for
the problems and future of humanity in
his SM+IČ+LE scenario. Dr. Tim
suggested that Space Migration
plus Increased Intelligence equals Life
Extension. In other words,
...get off the planet, get smarter, and we'll live
longer. The suggestion is not as
fanatical as it sounds.
Two points should
put this in perspective. 1) Forget laws, morality, creeds,
and codes; there's only one true
crime, and that's anything which threatens the
survival of the species. Raping
and then cannibalizing one's grandparents is
correctly a heinous act in any social
setting, but is insignificant when compared
to something which could extinguish what
could very well be the only sentient
species in the universe. We are
the eyes and ears of the universe and preserving
humanity must be our first priority.
2) The universe is a dangerous place and
Mom Terra is no exception. While
Sol won't explode for some time and the
chances of us going dino
from a big rock from space are debatable,
communicable diseases (both natural and
artificially created) present a very real
threat to our survival.
During the "Cold
War" some had fall-out shelters as a reaction to the peril of
global nuclear war. That was then
and this is now... Still, switching to decaf, I
have to wonder if Bill's seventeen (or
even seventy-seven) billion dollars would
be enough to build something which could
save the species and take them into
space. Oh, well! It was just
a thought!
I've read Bill
is committed to installing high-speed cable lines to schools and
libraries, as well as providing sufficient
quantities of computers for training use.
That's surely a daring, erstwhile, and
challenging goal! While certain problems
cannot necessarily be instantly resolved
by the throwing around of large amounts
of cash--cancer, muscular dystrophy (sorry,
Jerry and Ed), and now AIDS, as
well as crime, substance abuse, racial
and religious issues--there are things that
cash can accomplish right now. Education,
in this country, could use some help
from Bill and his wife, Melinda.
We can't expect
the Gateses' money to be spent on our roads and
infra-structure, or to somehow improve
our health-care system. The wizards
and lizards in Washington, DC should address
these and other such issues.
Hillary's repetition of the African proverb,
"It takes a village to raise a child,"
might very well serve to guide Bill and
Melinda, private citizens both, as they
begin to reach out to help those around
them. [Note: Why do I have a hunch
that the Gates Foundation will not
be buying I-Macs and AOL accounts for the
schools?]
Spending seventeen
billion dollars shouldn't be a hard thing to do. Doing it
prudently will probably be more difficult
than it was earning it. We should all
keep Bill and Melinda in our thoughts
and prayers as they attempt to do
something good.
I've never believed
Bill was the cyberchrist... He's merely a prophet
preparing the way... Someday someone
will come along with software that
Windows OS isn't worthy to run.
Until then, however, ...gotta admit that Bill's
is the only game in town! Spend
your "spare change" wisely, dude!
For more on The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, click here.
wondering if Seattle has good bookstores,
Rick