Why Are Chinese Millionaires So Stingy?
tnr.com
tnr.com
"The busy Mr. Zong said he thinks philanthropy is a bad idea. He can do much more for society by running a productive business, the beverage billionaire noted. Not every Chinese tycoon is so cold-hearted, however. "
So the guy thinks he can do better for people by running a business and that makes him cold hearted. Just what exactly is going on here? Who are these people to tell other people what to do with their money? Who are these people that think they know better how money should be used? Who are these people and what's their cut?
People that want other people to give away their money to help other people are just as selfish as the people that have the money. They want other people to do good things so they can feel warm and fuzzy knowing that good things are being done and they had a part in it, without actually doing anything at all like earning the money that did those good deeds. It's the grasshopper and the ant all over again just pointed in a different direction.
A lack of Government intervention is apparently only good when it involves the accumulation of wealth by a few, is that right?
Your argument held weight until you said that. Yes, China is still more underdeveloped than the US, and yes, there are many more opportunities for companies there to make large differences.
But did you even read this article? Who exactly is trying to encourage these donations?
What differences can these companies make, and more importantly why do they have to make them? There has to be a reason why you think these companies need to do something and I'm going to go with wanting other people to do what you think is right. So when other people do right, you feel right which leads to you needing other people to do right in order to feel right (if you didn't need too this would all be a non-issue) which makes you just as selfish as the people that don't want to spend the money in the first place.
Now, maybe it is not fair to expect billionaires to "give their money away" or maybe it is but either way it is not necessarily selfish to want them to.
We can go back and forth on what is right and what is not. The issue I see, is that what you are asking in wanting companies to engage in philanthropy, is to have the companies live at your behalf. To have them do what you think is right, whether or not they feel it is right. The public is trying to make the rich slaves to the public's ideals and I think that is the problem.
Being good and giving to others is great. Wanting others to do the same is fine. Expecting them to do it is wrong. Do you get the nuances of each statement?
When you declare that others should live as you would, you are saying 'I know better.' When you expect people to do the same as you would, you judge them based on their actions. You are being selfish by expecting everyone else to live like you and not be their own self. When other people do not do as you like and you try to force them to do something (in this case a steamy news article) you have taken the position as master in the master/slave arrangement.
You might think slavery is bad simply because of the cruelty, I see slavery as the relationship of those in power demanding from others any action they deem fit. Slavery as the coercion of other people by any means, normally a whip, this time with supposed morals. (If other people have to participate in your morals for them to be correct, then they are not morals at all.)
To go further about the selfish part, When other people do the things you want and that makes you feel good, you are being selfish because you are not letting that person do things for themselves. You are making them do things for your own self to feel right. If you were not selfish, the actions of other people would not make a difference.
A quote from him "If my children are competent, they don’t need my money, Mr. Yu explained. If they’re not, leaving them a lot of money is only doing them harm."
Traditionally, Chinese manages themselves according Confucian, Buddhist and Taoist views. Riches are encouraged to donate in order to secure better later life, reincarnation, lives of offsprings. Sometimes it was rewarded with some good "titles" from mandarin. Communist in Mainland Chines destroyed all the traditions while Hong Kong preserves it.
In Hong Kong, there are many international non-government organisation. Western type of charities can establish in Hong Kong. Some of them extends their charity services into China based in Hong Kong. Charity fund-raising happens all round the years.
There's none of the social insurance that exists in North America or Europe; less than 50 years ago there were serious famines; the regime itself is only about 60 years old and the current era of economic liberalization only about 30 years old.
In such a environment, people will be a bit more clingy "just in case" they're going to need every last cent in an upheaval.