Headlines will say "Jack Dorsey donates $1 billion" and I want everyone to know that's not what he's doing. He's putting $1 billion into a company that's gonna be a part of the privatization of services the government should provide. It's gonna be like the Gates foundation.
So a tiny amount of that fund will get donated, but the bulk of it is gonna turn a profit for jack, and the billionaire defenders will praise him as he gets richer while most people get poorer.
Have you ever wondered why Bill Gates has gotten exponentially richer over the last 10 years even though he says he's trying to give away all his wealth? Or why his foundation has consistently made zero improvement in education outcomes? Is he just bad at doing philanthropy?
The answer is yes and no. His foundation isn't doing what he said it would do but it is achieving the desired outcome of making him richer. That's why billionaires don't donate money, they make foundations and partnerships so they can keep making profit and look charitable.
There's a lot going on and I have shit to do so I'm not gonna argue with the billionaire defense squad when it gets here. What I am gonna do is post a few things you can do to actually help instead of cheering for scams from rich people.
#MassReleaseNow
#MassReleaseNow
More numbers to call if you're at home
A whole thread!
Help people buy some groceries
Correction: help provide emergency funds!
Ok so I said I wasn't gonna argue, and I won't, but some things need a little bit of extra explaining, so here's some FAQs
Q: isn't he just donating with extra steps?
A: no. If I took $100 from my checking account and put it in a new savings account and called it the Help People Account, then donated 50c of that $100 to a charity, I didn't donate $100.
A: no. If I took $100 from my checking account and put it in a new savings account and called it the Help People Account, then donated 50c of that $100 to a charity, I didn't donate $100.
Q: isn't he still doing good things with the money?
A: so the difference between me setting up a savings account and a billionaire setting up a foundation is that my savings account could never facilitate the defunding of public services, which these foundations tend to do.
A: so the difference between me setting up a savings account and a billionaire setting up a foundation is that my savings account could never facilitate the defunding of public services, which these foundations tend to do.
Q: so what? I trust billionaires more than I trust the government.
A: why can't we trust the government to help poor and oppressed people? Because the government is keeping them poor and oppressed. Why is the government doing that? Cause it serves the interests of the rich.
A: why can't we trust the government to help poor and oppressed people? Because the government is keeping them poor and oppressed. Why is the government doing that? Cause it serves the interests of the rich.
You don't want to give the rich even more control over society than they already have. Every public service that actually helps people was fought for by the working class, and privatization strips those services until they help almost nobody.
You can't separate the constantly "failing" efforts of the gates foundation from the flood of money that's left public education in recent years. Neoliberalism is the policy of stealing from the poor and giving to the rich, and these billionaire "donations" are a key part of it.
