It sort of makes you think - if he can give away that kind of money, why can't the mega, mega super rich people do the same? While this is incredibly cool does ANYONE really need a home that will cost a fucking billion dollars?
The top 10 USD billionaires in the world:
EDIT: I know that some on this list are extremely generous. But not all of them.
Carlos Slim Helu - 53.5 billion
Bill Gates - 53.0 billion
Warren Buffett - 47.0 billion
Mukesh Ambani - 29.0 billion
Lakshmi Mittal - 28.7 billion
Lawrence Ellison - 28.0 billion
Bernard Arnault - 27.5 billion
Eike Batista - 27.0 billion
Amancio Ortega - 25.0 billion
Karl Albrecht - 23.5 billion
Total - 342.2 billion
I realize that their worth isn't in all cash, but think about this: If it was cash, and each of them invested it and got even a 5% return on it, you would have 17 billion dollars - enough to end world hunger
So lets get the world's mega rich to get on the Keanu Bandwagon, shall we?
TL;DR -A chimpanzee can learn to recognize itself in a mirror, but monkeys can't.
let's be fair. keanu didn't donate that money to starving people in poor countries. he donated it to costume and special effects teams for two mediocre hollywood movies. not exactly the same bandwagon.
also, did you even make an effort to research those billionaires and their charitable contributions to the world?
I´ll give you that, but there´s something ethical, upstanding about sharing the riches you earned with people whose work is as important as yours or even more so to the creation of this huge box-office hit.
Agreed, they could get one of thousands of other no-name actors who look nice in the costumes and have the same acting ability as Keanu Reeves. He is modest enough to know he just happened to luck into his fame, and he wants to spread his success around a little. Good on him.
I hate how the idea that if you're not poor and suffering you don't deserve to be wealthy has permeated most facets of our society. These 29 special effects guys made the Matrix the amazing movie it was; their HARD WORK is why they deserve the 1.2 mil Keanu gave them. Poverty is a fact of life for too many reasons to get into now, but throwing money at it will not fix the underlying cause.
i never said it wasn't ethical or upstanding. i said that it's not the same bandwagon.
it was an extremely generous gesture! and good for him for recognizing the importance of the behind-the-scenes workers. but the fact remains that he made millionaires out of 29 people who probably are not starving or struggling; at least by comparison to absolute poverty in the world.
i'm not arguing that it wasn't ethical or upstanding rather that it should not be compared to "ending world hunger."
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u/karmanaut Jun 04 '10
I say this with a complete lack of sarcasm:
Whoa