Being a billionaire, in no way is a crime. 1810 of the richest people in the world in 2016 have made it to billion dollar fortune list according to Forbes magazine. Some of the wealthiest are self-made hard and smart working innovators while others have inherited a fortune from their royal past. No matter what the reason for their over a billion dollar worth is, utilizing that fortune has been a topic of constant discussions.
Giant contributions are made to various welfare programs by our billionaires frequently. The money goes into poverty elimination, tackling starvation, educating children, fighting diseases, research into improving our health and other such good deeds which restores our faith in humanity. But the bigger question here is that should a wealthy individual be judged based on the amount he or she donates, is it mandatory to part away with one's enormous wealth for charity although paying a healthy sum as taxes that government levies which supposedly goes into people welfare? The answers to these questions can be a more than one.
I ought to clarify that no conclusion has been made here and it is up to the readers to decide upon this ethical dilemma of the necessity for a billionaire to be a philanthropist. A majority of people are of the opinion that although the wealthiest have more money than they need it must be given away for the welfare of less fortunate but the fact of the matter is it’s not the job of wealthy individuals to pay for others and donating money is a choice and not a compulsion or parameter to gauge billionaires nature and social mindset.
Recently J.K. Rowling, the acclaimed author of Harry Potter series, couldn't make it the billion dollar club. Her immaculate pen skills have earned her the honor of being world's first woman to make it to a billion. Her fall from the being a billionaire cannot be attributed to dwindling interest in her writings, this is because of her multi-million dollar give away for literacy mission. “You have a moral responsibility when you’ve been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently," she said in a past interview. This is undoubtedly a heart-warming gesture on her part but does than imply every billionaire must follow her footsteps?
"Giving Pledge," a society established by Bill Gates and Warren E. Buffett which convinces the wealthiest to pledge a major portion of their accumulated wealth for philanthropy once approached Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. for parting away his fortune to which he declined. Does this question Steve Job's nature and his responsibility to our society? I cannot say answer that with any conviction as he was the man who took a $1 annual salary and never craved for money. His focus unlike Bill Gates and Warren Buffett who donate generously worldwide, was to build a team, a family called Apple and everything else was a distraction to him for his ambition which is not immoral or unethical in any way.
The stories in favor and against giving away one's fortune are a plenty. At this point of time, without being biased it is hard to draw a logical conclusion as "to give or not give".
