While some would have you think that all big business is evil, here are a couple of shining examples of good in big business.
Yes, there really are some who would have you think that all big business is the same. That it’s only made up of greedy money grubbers who want nothing but to be “filthy” rich. And by the way, where did that phrase come from and why would one associate someone who is rich as filthy? I guess if you could say that someone worked hard for their reward then they would indeed be filthy by virtue of their sweat. Because in most cases that is just what you get!

Today we saw two shining examples of big business doing good with their hard earned income. Warren Buffett, the largest stock owner of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., made a gift pledge of Berkshire Hathaway stock valued at more than $31 Billion. Yeah, that IS with a “B”. The Berkshire Hathaway Corporation is the parent company of such companies as Helzberg Diamonds, Fruit of the Loom, Johns Manville, International Dairy Queen, and dozens of other companies.

That gift is going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. That makes the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation five times larger than the next largest, the Ford Foundation. Some of the things that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation does include providing for greater educational opportunities, builds libraries, and helps provide greater access to health care for more people world-wide. This combined gifts of both the Buffett and Gates families, (among others), are helping to build a better world for all.

But of course some others might also realize a really neat little trick here. In the United States, we have a thing called income tax. And if you make an income over that of the poverty level, you must pay taxes on that income. The income tax brackets are graduated based on the amount of income you earn. The more income you earn, the more tax you pay. Do you see just how this system works? It seems to punish those who have worked hard all their lives and amassed any kind of wealth. And don’t get me started how much it costs to die in transfer taxes.

Well there is another beauty about this system and that is that you may also earn deductions in the amount of taxes that you are required to pay. Some of these deductions are for interest you pay on your home loan, an over abundance of medical bills, and charitable contributions. As tax payers, we have the right to either pay those income taxes to the US government, (and I don’t think you can really name a government that doesn’t mess up anything they touch), and they will in turn help society by building roads, and helping the needy. The other alternative is to make charitable contributions in the amount of the income tax owed and that will of-set that tax. This allows you to be able to choose instead to have your tax money go to fight cancer, or clothe the naked and feed the hungry. Or you have the bureaucracy of the federal government do that for you and take their cut. When given the choice, I’ll take the charitable foundation every time as they are run more like a business and must be efficient, unlike many sectors of the government.

Now do you see the beauty of this system? And do you see the great thing that both the Gates and Buffett families have done? Neither will ever pay income taxes again, possibly for the rest of their lives.

Now I do not espouse a socialist style where the government takes from the rich to give to the poor, and i do believe that we all have the responsibility to work for what we get. But there are some that fall through the cracks and have legitimate needs, and those of us who have been blessed with so much, have a responsibility to help those less blessed. Not a responsibility dictated by a government, but by the dictates of one’s own conscience. And these are NOT by any means the only representatives of “big business” doing what they can to ease the burdens of others. Most do very quiet things behind the scenes that make great difference in individual’s lives. Now you have to decide what part you will play. And when you hear all these stories about big business being evil, just remember that old adage about the one rotten apple. The rest of the barrel is looking pretty good to me.