Why Does Warren Buffet Want to Reduce the World's Population?
Warren Buffet recently released his latest "letter" to his Berkshire Hathaway investors. We'll spare you any comments. You'll find them scattered everywhere as media types and investment advisors parse through the letter to pluck pearls of Buffet wisdom - an annual exercise that occasionally produces an insight or two that even us mere mortals could use in our own investment activities.
While no one would deny the claim that Buffet may be the world's most influential, perhaps even greatest investor of our time, his influence doesn't stop there. When you're as rich as Buffet, you can not only say, but you can do whatever the heck you want - mostly. Of all the various possible areas receiving Buffet's attention, we're most puzzled by this: Warren Buffet seeks to reduce the population of the world. How and why does he choose to do this?
First how: His method of choice to reduce world population would be contraception. And so he uses his foundation to promote contraception. While it's the third largest foundation in the U.S. behind the Gates and Ford Foundations, it pumps more money into pushing contraception than all other foundations (not just Gates and Ford) combined. As for why Buffet is doing this, here's how Judith DeSarno, the Foundation's former director for domestic programs put it:
It's one thing to take the position that woman have a "right to control their fertility." But there's a clear implication that women having children somehow "wastes brainpower." Now one's brainpower can be applied to many endeavors, work that produces economic benefit being just one. So it seems that women who might use that same brainpower to raise their children would be "wasting" their brainpower because they're not using it to contribute to gross domestic product. It seems that raising GDP outweighs raising children in importance. Importance to whom? To Buffet?
That's likely not what Buffet might say. At least we can't imagine him saying that he's spending billions on contraception to satisfy his desire to raise GDP and to affirm his belief that raising GDP is more important than raising children. What he would likely say, though, is that he serves the interests of society here.
One has to wonder whether Buffet might not next target musicians. After all, the only thing they can produce - good ones at least - is beauty. Beauty, while good (actually essential) for the soul adds nothing to GDP. Of course, there do exist a mere handful of the total number of musicians in this world who are engaged in the business of music. I suppose they would be excused from condemnation. But for all you others, you who simply play for pleasure- your own or others - with no exchange of money, you'd better hope Buffet exhausts his vast treasure pumping the world full of contraceptives, along with willing consumers of same. That should keep his hands off of you and your instruments.
Back to contraception, what Buffet has done for many years amounts to an attempt at massive social engineering. His foundation becomes the poster child of those non-profits who abuse their tax-advantage, and advantage originally designed to promote charitable works. What exactly is charitable about promoting contraception? It's a case of an incredibly wealthy individual using their means to change society not further charitable works. Of course, some would say that reducing, restricting, or even eliminating child birth benefits society. But, again, how is that a charitable endeavor?
If Buffet wants to pull the strings and jerk the rest of the world this way or that, it's hard to see why he should get a tax deduction to do so.
While no one would deny the claim that Buffet may be the world's most influential, perhaps even greatest investor of our time, his influence doesn't stop there. When you're as rich as Buffet, you can not only say, but you can do whatever the heck you want - mostly. Of all the various possible areas receiving Buffet's attention, we're most puzzled by this: Warren Buffet seeks to reduce the population of the world. How and why does he choose to do this?
First how: His method of choice to reduce world population would be contraception. And so he uses his foundation to promote contraception. While it's the third largest foundation in the U.S. behind the Gates and Ford Foundations, it pumps more money into pushing contraception than all other foundations (not just Gates and Ford) combined. As for why Buffet is doing this, here's how Judith DeSarno, the Foundation's former director for domestic programs put it:
“For Warren, it’s economic. He thinks that unless women can control their fertility—and that it’s basically their right to control their fertility—that you are sort of wasting more than half of the brainpower in the United States,” DeSarno said about Buffett’s funding of reproductive health in the 2008 interview. “Well, not just the United States. Worldwide.”So according to Ms. DeSarno, the reasons are purportedly economic.
It's one thing to take the position that woman have a "right to control their fertility." But there's a clear implication that women having children somehow "wastes brainpower." Now one's brainpower can be applied to many endeavors, work that produces economic benefit being just one. So it seems that women who might use that same brainpower to raise their children would be "wasting" their brainpower because they're not using it to contribute to gross domestic product. It seems that raising GDP outweighs raising children in importance. Importance to whom? To Buffet?
That's likely not what Buffet might say. At least we can't imagine him saying that he's spending billions on contraception to satisfy his desire to raise GDP and to affirm his belief that raising GDP is more important than raising children. What he would likely say, though, is that he serves the interests of society here.
One has to wonder whether Buffet might not next target musicians. After all, the only thing they can produce - good ones at least - is beauty. Beauty, while good (actually essential) for the soul adds nothing to GDP. Of course, there do exist a mere handful of the total number of musicians in this world who are engaged in the business of music. I suppose they would be excused from condemnation. But for all you others, you who simply play for pleasure- your own or others - with no exchange of money, you'd better hope Buffet exhausts his vast treasure pumping the world full of contraceptives, along with willing consumers of same. That should keep his hands off of you and your instruments.
Back to contraception, what Buffet has done for many years amounts to an attempt at massive social engineering. His foundation becomes the poster child of those non-profits who abuse their tax-advantage, and advantage originally designed to promote charitable works. What exactly is charitable about promoting contraception? It's a case of an incredibly wealthy individual using their means to change society not further charitable works. Of course, some would say that reducing, restricting, or even eliminating child birth benefits society. But, again, how is that a charitable endeavor?
If Buffet wants to pull the strings and jerk the rest of the world this way or that, it's hard to see why he should get a tax deduction to do so.
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