0:00

Bill. Gates has a problem.

0:03

A Big problem. Billions of

0:05

problems. Hey. This is

0:07

Emily in the Bronx and you

0:10

are listening to a special archived

0:12

episode of Akimbo. So

0:18

what's his problem? Is problem is

0:21

it. he did something brave and generous.

0:23

him powerful and twenty ten about nine

0:25

years ago. He. And

0:27

Warren Buffet. At the time the

0:30

to richest men in the world

0:32

invented the giving pledge. And

0:34

the idea is that if you have

0:37

more than a hundred million dollars, you

0:39

can join their exclusive club. And

0:41

what the club says is that every member.

0:44

Pledges, To. Give

0:46

at least half of their

0:49

net worth a way to

0:51

charity. Now. Before.

0:54

They die. Or. In there will. When

0:57

they began. They. Had about

0:59

a dozen members. Quickly.

1:01

A good a forty. Now.

1:04

It's more than a hundred and

1:06

fifty. With. Most of them. Being.

1:09

Billionaires, This. Is

1:11

great news. It's great news

1:14

because it means that talented,

1:16

leveraged people. Are. Playing

1:18

a second game again. That.

1:21

About weaving our culture and

1:23

leading. They're. Helping. Those

1:25

in need. Instead. Of

1:27

only seeking to make one

1:29

metric. Co. Op. So

1:33

what's the problem? The problem is

1:35

that Bill Gates has more money

1:37

now. Than when he

1:39

started this project. That

1:41

as much good as the Gates

1:44

Foundation has done. As much money

1:46

as he has given away. Billionaires,

1:50

Make money from their billions

1:52

and he has more money

1:54

now. Then when he

1:56

started. In fact, if

1:58

we look at the child double

2:00

spending. Of the men and women

2:02

who have signed up, For the giving pledge.

2:05

We. See that they are almost

2:07

all. Falling. Behind.

2:11

They are falling behind because

2:13

on average they are giving

2:15

one point two percent away.

2:17

While. The money that they

2:19

have in their assets is

2:21

ernie eight, nine, or ten

2:23

percent a year. So.

2:26

At that rate, It. Will take

2:28

infinity years. Before. They

2:30

have given away half of their

2:32

net worth. The. Gap gets

2:35

bigger year after year. The

2:38

collected group of billionaires as

2:40

measured by bridge span has

2:42

given away about forty five

2:45

billion dollars a year. You

2:48

can see all the stats from some

2:50

fascinating reports on the show. notes at

2:52

a kimbo that link. The.

2:55

Problem is that unless they

2:57

get close to ninety or

2:59

two hundred billion dollars a

3:01

year given away. They're.

3:04

Going to keep falling behind. So.

3:06

What's the problem? Why don't we just wait till

3:08

they're dead? Well. For a

3:11

you reasons. First of all when they're

3:13

dead were not sure where that money

3:15

is gonna go and second. The.

3:17

Earth has problems now. And

3:19

many of the problems are compounding.

3:22

Which. Means that solving them

3:24

yesterday is significantly cheaper

3:26

and easier. Than. Solving

3:28

them tomorrow. So.

3:31

How do we explain? This

3:34

lack of giving. Biggest

3:36

the people who aren't giving. Have

3:39

signed up publicly to give. The.

3:41

People who are giving. they're not the

3:43

selfish ones who are hiding in the

3:45

corner. these are people who raised their

3:47

hands, put down their names you can

3:49

see them in the Wikipedia article and

3:51

have agreed. To make this

3:53

commitment. Well if you

3:55

ask them, Some.

3:57

Of their complaints will be things

3:59

like who of rigor in the

4:01

non profit space. Things. Are hard

4:04

to measure. Time. Frames

4:06

It very difficult to know what

4:08

to invest in because it might

4:11

take five, ten, or fifteen years

4:13

before you discover if the intervention

4:15

is working. A fear

4:18

of side effects that may

4:20

be putting money into the

4:22

problem will actually make the

4:24

problem worse. The. List

4:26

goes on and on. Here's

4:29

the thing. Over the

4:32

last few years, more than

4:34

six billionaires. Have. Put

4:36

more than a hundred

4:38

million dollars each. Into

4:41

college sports. Hundreds.

4:43

Of millions of dollars to support.

4:46

A college football team. Nothing.

4:48

Near that. For river

4:50

blindness. Nothing. Near

4:53

that for mental health care

4:55

for people who are homeless,

4:57

nothing near that. For. Six

4:59

seeing school systems. That.

5:02

Desperately need help. So.

5:05

Yes, we have a disconnect

5:07

here and in the bridge.

5:09

Spam report in Calla Hands

5:11

review of what to do

5:13

about it. We. See some

5:15

interesting ideas? Perhaps they say they

5:17

should be a fund of fun,

5:19

so every what instead of starting

5:22

your own foundation can lump their

5:24

money together Committed. To.

5:26

A group foundation that

5:28

might have more leverage.

5:30

Or perhaps we need

5:32

better data reporting? Perhaps

5:34

nonprofits need to work.

5:37

A lot more. Like. Corporations.

5:40

Maybe. We need a better way. To

5:42

measure a win. And

5:44

I agree that effectiveness ought to

5:46

be increased and measurement ought to

5:49

get better. These things matter a

5:51

great deal. Sauce Addict is doing

5:53

great work on this would lead

5:56

data. But. Here's the

5:58

thing. When. I look at the. Of

6:01

the top donations via The

6:03

Chronicle of Philanthropy year after

6:05

year after year, the question

6:07

is. Where. Do the fifty

6:09

million dollar gifts Go! There

6:11

when a billionaire gives away a chunk

6:14

of money. Where. Does he

6:16

or she send? First

6:19

a small aside. A. Billionaire.

6:22

What's a billionaire? Well. I want

6:24

you to imagine a millionaire. A

6:26

millionaire is imagine a book. A

6:28

millionaire is somebody who probably needs

6:30

to work by. Not a lot.

6:33

A millionaire is somebody who

6:36

owns a house outright. Who.

6:38

Can fly where they need to fly. when they

6:41

need to fly there. Now. Imagine

6:44

one thousand. Millionaires,

6:48

Does. To billionaire. And

6:50

if you're talking about somebody like

6:53

Elon Musk or Mike Bloomberg might

6:55

as fifty five billion dollars according

6:57

to the twenty seventeen numbers, he

6:59

probably more. Now that's. Fifty.

7:02

Five thousand. Millionaires,

7:05

In one who's. To. As

7:08

to billion and when we look

7:10

at the list of where their

7:13

biggest donations go over and over

7:15

again year after year. They.

7:17

Go to colleges, And. Hospitals.

7:20

Steer is. Not. A lot

7:22

of discussion. About the cost effectiveness

7:25

of hospitals. Still, if you compare

7:27

a hospital in the U S

7:29

E New York to our of

7:31

in the eye hospital I talked

7:33

about a bunch of episodes ago.

7:35

there's no. Comparison. That

7:37

you can get. Fine quality

7:39

cataract surgery. And our of

7:42

in for a hundred and fifty bucks if you

7:44

pay for the private room. Whereas

7:46

you'll pay ten or hundred

7:48

time. Sat for a similar

7:51

intervention in New York self.

7:53

Were. Not given money to hospitals.

7:56

Because. They're the most

7:58

efficient or transparent. And

8:01

famous colleges? well, not. And

8:03

glad we're has famously pointed out

8:05

again and again that Princeton has

8:08

enough money to do anything

8:10

you want For a very

8:12

long time, Harvard could have every

8:14

single student go to Harvard for

8:16

free for a hundred years.

8:19

So. Why give your money

8:21

to these institutions? The.

8:23

Answers: Really simple. Because.

8:26

You get a building. Because. There

8:28

is scarcity. Because. Scarcity

8:31

leads just. And

8:34

what we heard? him. One of the

8:36

very first episodes of Akimbo was a

8:39

rant about status false. Truman.

8:42

Hates Baxter and vice versa.

8:44

Which. Dog is up and which dog is

8:46

down. Status. A

8:49

lot of this was created by

8:52

Forbes Magazine years ago. The.

8:54

Billionaires didn't know who the other billionaires

8:56

weren't They weren't very many of them.

8:58

and perhaps you bumped into them at

9:00

a party. But. Forbes.

9:03

Started. The list. And

9:05

famously people lied to get

9:07

on the list. Famously people

9:09

hid to get off the

9:11

list. but the list did

9:13

something magical. What? The

9:16

list did. Was. For

9:18

people who are keeping track of a

9:20

number. It. Created a

9:22

published list. Of

9:24

the number. And if

9:27

you are only measuring one saying. Cause.

9:29

They weren't measuring health or happiness

9:31

or impact, just one thing. Then.

9:34

Having a way to keep score of

9:36

that one thing. Became.

9:39

Something that to rose folks.

9:41

To. Make that number go up.

9:44

And once you're on the hook to make

9:46

the number go up. Making.

9:48

The number go up feels like

9:50

a good game to play tomorrow.

9:52

Law surprises. Lots of applause for

9:55

making the number go up. So

9:57

I'm super excited and. Crowd

10:00

of worn and bill for coming up with

10:02

the giving pledge because what it did was

10:04

it added a second number. Are

10:07

you on the list or not? Status.

10:10

A cruise. To people

10:12

who cared enough. To.

10:14

Put their name on the list. It's

10:17

a very special club. In

10:19

billions the Tv show when acts one

10:21

into by an Nfl team he reached

10:24

out to get on the list to

10:26

show that he was a good person.

10:29

Status. Roles: Competitiveness

10:31

Scarcity. Who's.

10:34

Better than who? And

10:36

then. We. Come face to

10:38

face with the problem which is. You.

10:41

Not really sure what you're buying.

10:43

When. You start to invest your

10:45

money in philanthropy. If.

10:48

You want to build a company to send

10:50

a rocket to Mars? You can make progress

10:52

every day and when you get to Mars,

10:54

you got to Mars and everyone knows you

10:56

got to Mars. Or the other

10:58

hand. If you commit to getting plastic

11:00

out of the ocean. You're. Not

11:02

gonna get all the plastic. Added

11:05

the ocean. It's. Often a habit,

11:07

it's a hard one of the. Nick

11:10

had our has spearheaded the

11:12

work. To. Get the minimum

11:14

wage raised to fifteen dollars.

11:16

His organization one a big win.

11:19

In Washington State. Now.

11:23

The. Working people Washington State have a floor.

11:25

they make Fifteen dollars an hour minimum.

11:28

He. Can own. A

11:30

contribution. To that cause and it

11:32

cost him a lot of time and money. It's

11:36

possible to do that with something like

11:38

polio. Which. The Gates Foundation

11:40

is getting closer and closer to

11:42

eradicating. It's not clear

11:44

we can do it for homelessness. It's

11:46

not clear we can do it for

11:48

a river, blindness or atmosphere cancer, the

11:51

warming of the earth, So

11:53

the question is. What?

11:55

Are we selling? When. We're

11:57

selling philanthropy. It's

12:00

one thing. To. Say to a

12:02

human being face to face. Doesn't.

12:05

To see that person face down in

12:07

the puddle when you walk by? They're

12:09

gonna drown unless you save them. In

12:12

that situation, every one except a

12:15

sociopath. Is going to wade into

12:17

the water and say that person's life. But.

12:20

Is Peter Singer has pointed out. If

12:22

I can tell you with certainty that four

12:24

hundred dollars will save the life of someone

12:26

just like that who's not sitting right in

12:29

front of you. It's

12:31

a hard yourself. In

12:33

a recent blog post on

12:35

Sleep Star Codex, our host

12:37

Scott points out that is

12:39

a typical election. In.

12:42

United States of America in total.

12:45

Counting direct contributions, soft

12:47

money advertising and the

12:49

like. Americans spend

12:52

less on politics. Then.

12:54

They spend. Buying. Almonds.

12:57

I'm assuming is counting almond milk but still.

13:00

Less. Than. we spend on

13:02

arm. How we justify that?

13:04

How does that make sense? Well.

13:06

The simplest answer is this: When

13:09

you spend two dollars on almonds,

13:11

he get two dollars worth of

13:13

almonds. But when you spend two

13:15

dollars throwing some money to your

13:17

favorite candidate. It's not

13:19

clear you get anything. And

13:22

so the giant challenge philanthropy has.

13:24

if it's going to be measured

13:26

on the short term given, get

13:28

Massive Capitalism. Is that?

13:31

We. Don't get to dollars worth of almonds.

13:34

On. One hand, capitalism is a

13:36

miracle. It has completely rewired the

13:38

way we go to work and

13:41

the world in which we live.

13:44

But. Applying those rules relentlessly

13:46

the short term. Return.

13:49

On Equity mindset, the things

13:51

that don't respond well to

13:53

them. Isn't always

13:55

the best way forward? Three.

13:58

Hundred years ago. Two hundred

14:00

years go. A hundred years

14:03

ago as capitalism was being

14:05

perfect and the people who

14:07

started industries that today are

14:09

insane Li profitable. Didn't.

14:12

Have to answer questions about what

14:14

was your return on equity today.

14:17

That if you were busy

14:19

building a car company in

14:22

nineteen twelve, you were focused

14:24

on staying in business day

14:26

to day. Not. How is

14:28

this going to be worth

14:30

billions of dollars? That when

14:32

the internet was young and

14:34

people were building the very

14:37

first web, these were hobbies.

14:39

These words attempts at multi.

14:41

Billion. Dollar Industries. What

14:43

happened is a ratchet showed

14:46

up. Things got better over

14:48

time the same way. So.

14:51

Much of what we take for

14:53

granted in our civilized world. Avast

14:56

over time. The

14:59

thought: The going to the doctor

15:01

or taking a medicine is almost

15:03

certainly not going to cause you

15:05

to die. Is. A pretty new

15:07

one. It was super

15:10

risky to eat food when

15:12

you on the road travelling.

15:14

Now. Not so much which

15:16

is certainly sake the industrial system

15:18

for a lot of food safety.

15:21

But a big part came because

15:23

the culture changed over time. Bit.

15:26

By bit things got better.

15:28

Because. People worked. To.

15:30

Make them better. Not.

15:33

Because they were going to make a profit. Doing.

15:35

It. When

15:38

someone was investing five thousand dollars in

15:40

a car company or ten thousand dollars

15:42

the lobby a politician to get a

15:44

road built. They. Didn't

15:46

say. Will this make me

15:49

a billionaire in a year? That

15:51

in Silicon Valley. When. People

15:53

were making crazy investments in

15:56

speculative internet bubble companies.

15:58

They didn't say. Show

16:01

us with transparency exactly how you gonna

16:03

make a profit. That,

16:05

in fact, Market. thinking.

16:08

Status. Seeking. Lead

16:10

to a rush. And that rush.

16:13

Brought. In New people and those new

16:15

people try new things and most of

16:17

those things did not work. Most.

16:20

Of the ideas the capitalists of had

16:22

over the years did not work. And

16:25

the ones that did work. Took.

16:27

Decades and they never.

16:30

Turned. Out the way the original

16:32

business plan said they would and

16:34

so does show up. At

16:36

a small non profit and say so as

16:39

to the penny. What? Your advocacy

16:41

is. There. Are very

16:43

few entrepreneurs who could withstand that

16:46

scrutiny in the first five, ten,

16:48

fifteen years of their entrepreneurial journey.

16:51

That we need to keep track of

16:53

a second. Think we need to move

16:55

the money that's been promised. Because.

16:58

We're offering people status.

17:01

How much of your pledge have you for

17:03

silt? How much can you

17:05

move over right now? Not with questions.

17:08

About two days Africa seat

17:10

or two days Transparency. But

17:13

how instead can we create a

17:15

new game here? And a new

17:17

game is about the peace and

17:19

gentle weaving. Of a

17:21

different kind of culture. What?

17:24

We do is we

17:26

give traditional status oriented

17:28

non profit surpass. We'll

17:31

challenge the efficacy of the

17:33

opera or the museum. Or.

17:35

The Hospital or the college.

17:38

But. When innovators so up. We.

17:41

Grill them. We demand that they

17:43

count the paper clips. We don't

17:45

leave any room. For

17:47

the tremendous innovation cycle.

17:50

That. Got us the capitalistic.

17:53

Pillars. that we cell count

17:55

on today. That it

17:58

is entirely possible. That

18:00

we're going to solve. He had another

18:02

problem. It is entirely possible that we

18:04

can take a vaccine. And make

18:06

it free to the masses. It

18:08

is possible that the next Wikipedia.

18:11

Will. Educate millions and millions

18:13

of people that the lessons

18:15

of one laptop per child

18:18

will spread from one place

18:20

to another. All of

18:22

these things are possible. We have seen

18:24

them happen before. We will see them

18:26

happen again. But. The

18:29

way we get some money there. Is

18:31

either. Take. A deep breath

18:33

and figure out that it all

18:36

of our responsibility and do it

18:38

with an organization that been practiced

18:40

at doing it for the government.

18:42

The one that built all those roads.

18:45

The one that built the internet you're

18:47

hearing this on or. Before

18:49

they're still rely on philanthropy. Turn

18:52

it into the status game. That.

18:54

Billionaires demand create.

18:57

Enough social pressure. That. It

18:59

is better for your status as a billionaire

19:01

to give away money. That.

19:03

It is to see it grow. Not.

19:06

Because it is a rational out

19:08

to his dick investment of the

19:10

highest yield per dollar. But.

19:13

Simply because you're human. The.

19:15

Kind of human who wanted to

19:17

give money to sports teams to

19:19

kind of human who wanted to

19:22

have a wing of a hospital

19:24

named after you or your cousin.

19:26

that human beings to human things.

19:28

we are not rational outsourced. Instead

19:30

we are people who are seeking.

19:33

To. Deal with the fact that we know we're going to

19:35

die. And that until we do we would

19:37

like to live in a place. Where. We

19:40

are welcome. Where. We think we

19:42

have made a difference, Where our work

19:44

matters, where we have woven. A

19:46

Culture. That. We can be proud

19:48

of. All of

19:51

us get to do those things. Billionaires get

19:53

to do them more loudly. We.

19:56

Need more innovative nonprofits

19:58

We need. Nonprofits,

20:01

It are willing to show up and say. This.

20:03

Might not work. And. We're

20:05

going to do it anyway. We.

20:08

Need. Fast. Moving.

20:10

Fast. Mistake. generous thinking.

20:13

In order to change that of our culture,

20:16

Not. Because it's gonna make a profit. Some.

20:18

People say. It's. A shame that

20:21

nonprofit are named after the things that they

20:23

are not. But. In

20:25

a culture that so dominated by. What?

20:27

Do you make. Maybe.

20:29

That's exactly what they should be known for.

20:32

The. Fact that they're not seeking to make

20:34

a profit. But. That they are merely.

20:36

Seeking. To make it if it. Thanks.

20:40

For listening. Who. See you

20:42

next time I said the Mighty and

20:44

a half. My name's Kyle reading some

20:46

steam out Madison, Wisconsin Hi. Hi.

20:52

Hi warm greetings from

20:54

Curacao. Right

20:57

from my family says

20:59

ranks hi. Hi

21:02

this is Robert Parry of my question is.

21:05

And that completes my question. Say.

21:09

So listening, we love to hear

21:11

from you. If you've got a

21:13

question, I hope you will visit

21:15

Akimbo.linked as a gay I M

21:17

B O.l I N K and

21:19

press the appropriate button while you're

21:21

there. Check out the show Notes:

21:26

Isis. This is Spencer from Amsterdam.

21:28

I was listening to the question

21:30

around said at the end of

21:32

the Perils of Mind Reading episode

21:34

about the benefits of So That.

21:37

You were talking about changing the

21:40

colchester actions, creating opportunities and I've

21:42

seen as if. I'd

21:44

like to propose a maybe we can take

21:47

it further. I was

21:49

lucky enough to meet an amazing

21:51

woman recently rides up a large

21:53

engineering organization. Now remember, the average

21:55

amount of women in the engineer

21:57

profession is somewhere around seven percent.

22:01

We have many people in positions

22:03

of power saying that when they

22:05

advertise for engineers, they will hardly

22:07

get any female applicants and then

22:09

perpetuate this myth about their be

22:11

in a Pipeline problem. Yet.

22:14

This woman I met her organization

22:16

tested during a recruitment campaign that

22:18

advertises for a female only recruitment

22:20

rounds. And yes, you guessed it,

22:22

the Africans went through the roof.

22:25

As love your thoughts on this kind of

22:27

idea if you think it could spread in

22:29

hope of changing the culture. As always thank

22:32

you for be in a much needed voice

22:34

and presence in the world. Thanks

22:37

to this question, it's certainly current and

22:39

relevant to what so many of us

22:41

are facing. And I'm going to begin

22:43

with this. Most. Humans

22:46

don't like doing things they

22:48

think they're going to fail

22:50

at. That seems

22:52

really obvious. However, we have

22:54

structured many of our institutions

22:57

to imply to some people

22:59

said they're going to fail.

23:02

If they show up. And then were

23:04

surprised. When. They don't show up.

23:07

So you're absolutely correct in talking

23:09

about to the pipeline problem. If

23:11

we keep doing what we've been

23:13

doing, why are we surprised that.

23:16

The. Very same kind of people keep

23:18

showing up in our pipeline if

23:20

we want to change the people

23:22

we get to choose from of

23:24

who to change, who gets a

23:26

seat at the table. It helps

23:28

to create a different sort of

23:31

pipeline and while you're example is

23:33

an extreme one. there are plenty

23:35

of ways that we can do

23:37

this. So. On to cerebral.boonies

23:39

Cerebral Guy Boonies A make believe

23:42

sport invented by Jimmy Cantor's and

23:44

in the sport people who are.

23:47

Nine. Years old have a significant

23:49

advantage over people who are say

23:51

sistine. For. Example: If

23:54

the sport requires shimmying on

23:56

the ground under nice. A

23:58

piece of wood. A little

24:01

kid's going do it better than a big

24:03

kid if you've got to actually literally jump

24:05

through hoops. Turns. Out little kids

24:07

are better. At jumping through hoops

24:09

than big kids. If you

24:11

start a cerebral guard booting competition,

24:14

I think you'll discover that little

24:16

kids are way more eager to

24:18

sign up for it then big

24:20

kids. And. So now

24:22

we think about the jobs and

24:24

the positions of authority because what

24:27

we decided a long time ago

24:29

is that being good at interviewing

24:31

in a high pressure situation in

24:33

which the interviewer is likely to

24:35

be a white male is a

24:37

good indicator of whether or not

24:39

you will be good. At.

24:41

Your job. Wealth. A

24:43

lesser job involves being interviewed. It's

24:46

not clear that being good at

24:48

interviewing is a good way to

24:50

find out his someone's good at

24:52

a job. One thing that we

24:54

have found is that many jobs

24:56

benefit from having people interview in

24:58

writing. Send them the questions and

25:01

have them send back the answers, because if that's

25:03

the sort of way they're going to do their

25:05

job, You've. Just discovered a good

25:07

way of finding out of the going. Be good.

25:10

As their job. Or consider

25:12

the idea of changing the

25:14

pipeline if you want more

25:16

diversity in your engineering ranks.

25:19

Well, Why not go

25:21

run some hacker science at

25:23

historically black universities and colleges?

25:26

Why not So up? Where.

25:28

People you are looking for

25:30

already hang out and create

25:32

activities and interactions were the

25:34

ones who are ready to

25:36

sign and do work with

25:38

you. Are more likely to

25:41

show up. So we

25:43

need to change how we are filling the

25:45

pipeline. We need to change the game you

25:47

have to play before you play the game.

25:50

If we are hoping. For other players

25:52

to be part of what we are building.

25:56

Thanks. Again for listening. We'll. See you next

25:58

to.