A Wonderful Reminder to Be Charitable
- Print print this page
- Discuss 33 comments, Blog about
Advertisement
While Warren Buffett and his liberal pals in Washington stoke the fires of class warfare and begrudge millionaires to the point that he’s had his own failed income tax idea named after him, his middle son, Howard G. Buffett, has been bumping around the fields of his Illinois farm trying to come up with ways the private sector can help feed the needy.
What follows is a delicious tale of irony and dichotomy between a wealthy liberal father, who would help President Obama fulfill his dreams of federally administered wealth redistribution, and a wealthy son, who during a day’s farming, struggles on his own to come up with ways he might be able to help the hungry.
Introduced in a Thursday Wall Street Journal piece, “From the Field to the Food Pantry,” by Melanie Grayce West, Mr. Buffett the younger has come up with a brilliant and simple plan. The idea is to coordinate farmers in Illinois to donate the crop yields of just one acre of their farms per year.
Mr. Buffett, once a senior executive with Archer Daniels Midland Co., will donate $3 million up front from his own foundation to kick-start promotions and administration of the plan, and will help coordinate the area farmers with ADM so that the food finally gets to the largest hunger relief group in the country, Feeding America.
Since there are 80,000 farmers working with ADM, and the average acreage farmed by each farmer is 1,500 acres, the potential windfall in food is staggering. Each acre of corn could yield about 150 bushels. Mr. Buffett points out that generosity among farmers is second nature, and so he has great confidence in the future success of the plan.
Now, the Warren Buffett Foundation is very generous, and donates millions to many worthwhile causes. There is no intent here to malign Warren Buffett’s integrity, or his generosity in that regard. It is simply to point out the ideological and political differences at play here on how and who can best help the less fortunate in America.
The left clings, despite decades of failure, to the idea that the federal government is best equipped to help lift the disadvantaged from poverty. For that matter, the left believes the federal government can best deal with all societal ills. No matter what one wants to talk about, the solution has always been to tax more, spend more, control more.
Public education failing? Throw more money at it. Energy? Throw more money at it. And on and on it goes.
The “Buffett Rule,” which thankfully went down to defeat in the Senate this week, was a cynical attempt by Obama, Warren Buffett and the Democrats to confiscate a minimum of 30 percent in taxes from millionaires.
For a time, it fed nicely off this year’s whiny Occupy Wall Street movement and the idea that inequality in the country is due in part to the fact that the rich are too rich and need to be forced by the government to give up more of their income for redistributive purposes.
No one in the left in general, in government, or in this movement, has yet explained why it is that none of America’s societal ills have yet been fixed, despite increasing federal expenditure year after year to the point that we now approach a $16 trillion national debt.
The greatest problem, however, with the “confiscate from the rich to pay for the poor” schemes of the left is that they just plain create ill will. They divide us into classes. They make people feel targeted as having done something wrong while working to become successful. They rip from the maligned any desire to be charitable.
On the other hand, when government isn’t breathing down our necks, threatening us with higher taxes and dividing us into classes, we’re far more apt to be generous. And this story about an individual devising private ways to help the needy just makes me want to jump up and cheer.
It’s inspiring and makes me once again want to be generous and helpful to those in need. This week, and on a more regular basis, I will deliver bags of groceries to our own food bank. And I will be thinking about other ways I can help.
Thank you for that wonderful reminder, Mr. Howard G. Buffett.
Geoff Cutler is owner of Cutler Tree LLC in Southern Pines and is a regular contributor to The Pilot and PineStraw magazine. Contact him at geoff
cutler@embarqmail.com.
More like this story
Advertisement
Comments
fugitiveguy 1 year ago
Good story, I hadn't heard of the younger Buffetts initiative. I believe the rich are far too often maligned by the left. Many are very generous particularly in their latter years. I am not rich and likely will never be but I cannot understand the need of some to constantly moan and groan about greed and fair share.
JER 1 year ago
Mr. Cutler has a short memory. Statements like : "none of Americas societal ills have yet been fixed" ignore the accomplishments of our government. Maybe Geoff can describe what this country would be like today had Social Security and Medicare not been put in place by our government. Further, maybe he could research and describe the what this country was like for the working class when industry was unencumbered by regulation.
lakeview 1 year ago
LOL. Too funny JER. Social Insecurity and Inneedofcare are bankrupt practically. So those are you idea of something the governement has fixed??? I guess you think the Post Office is in wonderful financial shape as well.
DoubleHeroides 1 year ago
That’s great. It really is, if only everyone that were able to donate to the needy did so (and did it regularly) there truly would be a private solution to society’s woes unfortunately people aren't that willing to donate. I’m not advocating for government intervention in solving all of life’s problems but to jump for joy at the idea that private enterprise will be the solution by this one instance seems a bit extreme. There isn’t one universal solution to fixing the problem of hunger or need in our communities. Further, charitable organizations are all around us all the time. You would be hard pressed to find a local church that doesn’t do outreach to the needy that could stand a little publicity in the Pilot.
It is great that the young Mr. Buffet has started this program but would he want it to possibly be misrepresented as the spring board for your partisan politics? Would an article about charity be better suited to promote charity locally than your politics nationally?
nothingspecial 1 year ago
Great, thought provoking article Mr. Cutler!!
JER, I agree with you that our country has done great things but you must realize how many examples of how power corrupts have been cropping up.
I thing that line up there "No one in the left in general, in government, or in this movement, has yet explained why it is that none of America’s societal ills have yet been fixed, despite increasing federal expenditure year after year to the point that we now approach a $16 trillion national debt." is the absolute best line of the article. 5 Trillion later in the past three years, how much better off are we?
It has been recently calculated that our current national debt will not be paid off by the total lifelong tax contributions of our's, of our children, and our GRANDCHILDREN. And we're adding more each year. Nope, no problem there...
The_AnonymusProfit 1 year ago
Right now as it stands, there are 2 main obstacles to the utopia that the socialists claim to seek. 1 is the current belief that the measure of wealth is based on a monetary system. The other is a strict oil and water approach to differing religions.
Currently, we posses the ability to feed, cloth, shelter, and provide modern amenities such as air conditioning, medical care, transportation etc to every single person on this planet.
We can not however live in this "communist" way due to our natural instinct to control others and hoard power over others.
This article is a great example of a possible step in the correct direction. If every farm in the world donated 1 acre of product to a food bank...there would cease to be world hunger. If every countries private construction companies agreed to build basic housing, every citizen in the world would have shelter and so on and so fourth.
The problem lies in the lack of profitability. Doing things for free is not profitable, and therefore the powers that be will not allow this to happen.
One day man kind will evolve to a point that we will understand that holding power over other humans is unacceptable and intolerable. Until that point we must hope that people like Mr Buffets son continue to do the work they do.
On a final note, wealth is not determined by the amount of money you have in a bank account, wealth is determined by your possesion, do you have a home? food? clothing? transportation? a TV? A cell phone? if you can say yes to this then you are among the wealthiest people on the planet.
Thatcher 1 year ago
Great column Geoff!
JER 1 year ago
lakeview: What are you, 12 years old? LOL this and LOL that. At least communicate like a grownup. You evidently are not of the age that can appreciate the value of what Social Security and Medicare have done for a great deal of people who would otherwise be living under a bridge. I paid into both of these programs during my working career, so they are not a government handout. The postal system is not a government subsidized system. The postal system is in trouble for a variety of reasons including fewer pieces of mail being handled because of advancements in other forms of communications. But the major reason for its trouble can be found in a 2006 law (H.R.6407, Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act) which was sponsored by Rep. Tom Davis, Republican from Virginia and signed into law by President George W. Bush, Republican from the One Star State. This law, among other things, forced the Postal System to wholly pre-fund its retirement health package to the tune of 5 billion dollars per year.
ncroots 1 year ago
Well said JER. It's astonishing how conservatives can rail against 'socialist programs' that they themselves rely on and would be outraged should they dry up. Case in point - a neocon neighbor of mine loves to disparage Healthcare Reform while at the same time proudly announces that his third hip replacement was fully covered under Medicare. Further, I'm continually amazed that conservatives pin our present fiscal plight on this admin's spending! How absurd the notion of returning to the failed trickle down economic policies of the past! Not to mention the 180 degree turn away from Afghanistan following 9/11 toward and unjust war in Iraq that has cost us not only wasted $$ but American lives! That fiasco along with tax breaks for the wealthy, who at the time didn't need them also contributed to our present plight. As for the whiners of the occupy movement, when will the people who created the derivative instruments that led to the mortgage crisis be brought to justice? The only whining I hear is from the babies on the right who have been taught to fear that which doesn't exist.
MikeNC 1 year ago
Excellent column Geoff. What adds to the irony is Warren Buffets current legal battle with the IRS for over 500+ million dollars he supposedly owes in back taxes. America has always been generous. Not only our government using our tax dollars but private citizens coming to the call of people in need; right here in our country and over seas. I forget which UN secretary General called us cheap skates or similar meaning words....Mike
geoffcutler 1 year ago
"Stress Rises on Social Security" Front Page WSJ, Tuesday 4/24/2012, Today. "Social Security, which pays for retirement and disability funds to exhaust its reserve by 2033, three years earlier sooner than previously estimated, a new government report said Monday."
Why shouldn't your friend be happy about his medicare hips? He probably paid for them through payroll deductions to his wages or salary.
Have you ever heard of the Affordable Housing Act? There would never have been derivatives had there not first been government redistributing our tax dollars to people who could not afford to own homes.
Whiny OWS movement... yes...whiny!
geoffcutler 1 year ago
Mike, According to the piece, one of the reasons why Mr. Buffett the younger started thinking about how to feed our own was that while he was bumping around in his tractor, he kept wondering why the US was more charitable than any other nation in the world to other nations, and yet right here in our own rural areas, there are children going hungry. UN secretary whiner was likely Kofi Annan.
ncroots 1 year ago
Financial lobbyists go to work pushing for deregulation on behalf of the largest investment firms turned banks, that had found a way to capitalize on the Affordable Housing Act with credit default swaps and other derivative schemes and you blame inner-city inhabitants looking for a better life. Nice.
geoffcutler 1 year ago
Maybe so, but the point is, had the banks not been shaken down in the first place by the federal government and its debt-ridden entitlement handout spending with other peoples tax dollars, these derivatives would never have existed in the first place. Which came first, the un-payable mortages, or the derivatives?
Off to the market, and food bank. See you there?
fugitiveguy 1 year ago
" This law, among other things, forced the Postal System to wholly pre-fund its retirement health package to the tune of 5 billion dollars per year. "
What was the alternative for funding these bloated pension obligations? Also, what role did obstructionist unions play in the demise of the postal service?
fugitiveguy 1 year ago
Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, and Democrats are Clueless on Freddie Mac Fannie Mae and the financial credit crisis. by Jeff H
This is for Ncroots and any other lefties that continue to distort the cause of the financial collapse. The facts simply are not consistant with what you continue to regurgitate. When I have posted this before the lefties usually fall silent.
lakeview 1 year ago
JER- Call me sometime JER. I doubt you will because you sound old and senile to me but to the issue at hand. Sure Medicare has helped has as SS for those that have paid in. Yet more and more, people that haven't paid in are reaping the benefits. In addition to that, we have a population that is living much longer now. Please explain how those two programs will continue to exist. //Go ahead. Make that senile argument to tax the rich more. And why don't you respond to fugitiveguy's questions. We are all waiting to hear your explanation. In case you missed them, here they are again:
What was the alternative for funding these bloated pension obligations? Also, what role did obstructionist unions play in the demise of the postal service?
ncroots 1 year ago
Yes, I'm stupefied into silence awaiting your lecture on the financial collapse according to the facts as you understand them. That's me falling silent oh great and powerful voice of the "Righties"!
ncroots 1 year ago
Here's some 'facts' Fugitiveguy that you can ignore - Brooksley Born, the Cassandra of the Derivatives Crisis
geoffcutler 1 year ago
Last cable bill: $95.81. Last Cell Phone bill for family of four: $203.90. Today's trip to Dollar Store (best bang for the buck) for 2 cases nonperishable and other canned goods including 73 separate items:$61.03.
In the four counties served by the Sandhills Foodbank of Central and Eastern North Carolina there are 36,402 individuals at risk of hunger (18%). 4,300 are 65 years or older. (11.9%). 12,955 are children (35.2%).
I hope both my conservative and liberal friends on here will consider joining me in helping out our food bank on a more regular basis. There's a lot we can do outside of government to help.
fugitiveguy 1 year ago
"Yes, I'm stupefied into silence awaiting your lecture on the financial collapse according to the facts as you understand them."
What does the video show? Cat got your tongue? If so, you would be like all the rest. Its a little awkward when the truth smacks you in the head.
fugitiveguy 1 year ago
Geoff, I will do it.
ncroots 1 year ago
Did anyone ever say that there weren't whistle blowers on both sides of the aisle? Lobbyists, not lawmakers are critical to the equation. Cat got your tongue? It must be lonely when the truth prevents you from having a serious debate on the topic vs. spewing forth with condescension. Unfortunately that sad fact won't prevent you from responding further with more of the same so, I'll say farewell.
nothingspecial 1 year ago
If JER sounds old and senile I want to be his age! I'd like to be half as smart
fugitiveguy 1 year ago
"Did anyone ever say that there weren't whistle blowers on both sides of the aisle?"
This video clearly shows Republican lawmakers drawing attention to a coming financial crisis while inept Democrats blocked increased oversight, even attacking the credibility of the regulators. No Democrats were calling for increased regulation, they actively and aggressively got in the way. Whistle blowers on both sides of the aisle? You must be joking
fugitiveguy 1 year ago
Ahh, yes. The all too familiar crickets are chirping.
JER 1 year ago
fugitiveguy: The 2006 law passed by the GOP forced the Postal Service to pre-fund their retirement health package. The law mandates that it be pre-funded 75 years into the future and that all 75 years need to be paid up in 10 years. To answer your question: "What was the alternative for funding these ...... pension obligations?", how about if they didn't require that 75 years be paid in 10 years, that would be one alternative I can think of right off the top of my head. You may want to do some research and find out that no other government or private industry operation requires anything remotely close to this requirement. You may want to look up when the last time the Postal Service was profitable. It was 2006. I have no idea what effect postal unions have on the day to day operation of the USPS, but I do know that it employed over 500,000 of our fellow Americans and provided you the ability to mail a letter from Miami to Seattle for mere pennies and was profitable at it right up to 2006. You can use the words "bloated" and "obstructionist" without knowing their meaning in the context of this discussion and you think it makes you look knowledgeable. It makes you look exactly like what you are: Ignorant.
JER 1 year ago
lakeview: Why would I want to call you? I can get more than enough "lakeview time" right here on this website. Yes, I'm old if 68 is old. My eyesight is still pretty good but, I'll be honest, the only time I could "see Nile" was when I visited Egypt. My sense of humor seems to be holding up OK. Now back to the discussion. Both Social Security and Medicare are currently solvent. Social Security is solvent through 2033 (20 years from now). A combination of a small tax increase and minor benefit reduction, if done NOW, will solve the problem for the future beyond 2033. Of course, if private industry decides to become pro America and move their operations back to this country and give Americans their jobs back, that would also solve the problem.
JER 1 year ago
geoffcutler reminds me of the time, way back when I was a Catholic and went to church and I would see certain individuals at Sunday Mass. They always arrived with a great flourish, nodding to everyone as they made their way down the isle to their front pew position. They would sing the loudest, recite the responses just a little sooner than everyone else and would always be the first to stand, kneel or sit. They made a very big show of their religion, it was good for their ego and, in some case, good for their business or their politics. Fact is, they were no more or no less religious than any others, they just wanted you to notice them. (And for those keeping score, the number to beat is $61.03).
geoffcutler 1 year ago
The pinnacle of liberal cynicism. JER, you don't have to beat it, just match it!
geoffcutler 1 year ago
Or, for that matter, you don't even have to match it, just do something besides whine about our military, the flaws you see in our Constitution, or how not enough is being done for you. Just do something...anything.
MikeNC 1 year ago
Give your pointed reminisces back to Catholicism a break JER. Geoff was making a statement on what most of us pay for each and every month without giving it a thought. And how much value a worthwhile donation can do for others; without breaking our bank. He penned this column and decided to do something personal himself and threw out a little challenge to the masses. It's for a great cause; can you not support anything a conservative does...Mike
fugitiveguy 1 year ago
Of course when all else fails, call those who have a different opinion "ignorant". I hope I am not as bitter when I am your age.