Charitable giving .. must have HEART

Here is the basic problem with the Gates approach.


There are three types of organizational structures to bring about social change.


One is top down. These are the Bono type of organizations that focus around a pPERSONALITY. Sort of like benevolent dicatorships. The weakness: They are only as good as the person at the top and thus fall apart very very easily. Extremely fragile. Even Britian's royal family is aware of this, and avoids them. The Prince's Trust is very very careful. These organizations tend to fall apart over time as "fashions" change. People also do not like top down decision making.


Type Two is an organization of the TECHNOCRATS. These are do gooder organizations that use a fellowship of professionals to further their vision. They can be doctors, or social workers, or engineers, but their backbone is professionals. These organizations splinter off into three types of personalities -- EGOS, those who check the EGOs and the actual builders. One problem with these is that real builders often get sidetracked into checking the EGOs as they really have no choice. Thus the fruits of these type of organiztaions is often much more limited than originally intended. Also, the VISION tends to get lost over time (if they ever manage in the first place to get it written down.) These organizations are usually useless when it comes to selling the hard to sell causes. As EXPERTISE is the general selling point of this type of organization, sometimes the heart of the organization gets silenced. And since they are made up of "bricks", it is relatively easy to take them apart brick by brick if their goals/vision is outside societal values. The are "relatively" easy to build.


The third type of organization is the GRASSROOTS organizing effort. These are incredibly hard to pull down as they are building from the bottom UP. The usually come into being as a set of people has a clear VISION of what they want. They usually need to be prodded into taking the VISION to something somewhat bigger and inclusive as they go along, considering the vision inside each member. These are nearly impossible to undo. It is extremely important that these organizations do not rely on government money OR the regular annual donations of specific givers. In particular they must never allow a SINGLE DONOR to control their operating expenses. Single donors must make contributions to program specific areas ONLY, so that they cannot shut down the organizations when their egos get smashed.


The problem with Gates and Buffet's giving is that --- good organizations that fall for the capitalization of their organizations are going to find that they can survive ONLY if only the program portion of the programs is funded. Because both Gates and Buffet have BIG EGOS and want verifiable results -- which is not always possible. You must trust that a charitable entity is furthering its vision with what they are doing!! The nature of organizations is to SPLASH OUT with extravaganzas -- hoping to make big bucks on lotteries, dances, things that appeal to the bourgeious. These events flatten an organization!! Instead of being seen as a way to recruit volunteers, there become a big huge ENERGY DRAIN and kill the organization.


The first paid employee of any good organization is the VOLUNTEER coordinator,not a secretary or president. They should be able to keep the organization on course. But training people for this position is rare -- except in the UK where there is a school to train such individuals. Canada has no cooperative charity training school, neither does the US. Other nations are doing without this, too. Thus these organizations go off track very quickly. To build a long term presence, an organization requires building up a vast warehouse of usuable ENERGY!!


Gates is pursuing the building of TECHNOCRATIC organizations. This is extremely clear to me. He is listening to only techies -- which has been my complaint against him for many a year. He seemed to think that all of us had 27 techies to help us as we endeavored to find solutions as we entered the 32-bit and then the 64-bit Universes. And so it is with his charitable "giving". It is quite easy for this kind of money to put out a propogandist video, using just the right people, to convince you how very very good the aims are ... but long term? It's money down a HOLE.


Wooooooooooooonderfulling Gates is no solution. This only adds to the problem, actually and sets up these organizations for playing to his ego.


I don't see Gates (or Buffet) as either messiahs or antichrists. I see them as individuals who have already been seriously misled. They need advisors that will take them outside the comfort zone of what is "socially acceptable". They are not free of the 18 1/2 million years of sludge pushed on the human race either. They are NEWCOMERS to the land of wealth and privilege comparatively. They have no idea of the tricks of the nobility, royalty and wealthy to maintaining their stranglehold. This could be a "good thing", of course, but my nose says different. Their egos are sure to trip them up when someone suggests another way of looking at things, which is to EMPOWER as many people as possible.


They didn't get "where they are today" by having no ego!!