As the world’s richest people, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett call on wea

游客2024-11-06  7

问题         As the world’s richest people, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett call on wealthy people to devote half of their wealth to public welfare and charitable causes. Some government officials even proposed it should be made mandatory for billionaires to donate money to charity. The followings are opinions on whether billionaires should be forced to donate money.
        Write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
        1. summarize briefly the arguments;
        2. give your comment.
Yvette Cazobon from the US
        As a very American American, I strongly believe in freedom all the way, there would be so much uproar about people being forced to donate, that is would not be considered donating, it would be taxes that don’t go to the government. There are also many millionaires/billionaires donating already, Bill Gates has donated 28 billion himself, and it seems like people think he still does not donate enough. The average American makes less than 2 million in their life, I think 28 billion is VERY generous donation. And that is just Bill Gates, don’t forget the other rich people donating. To summarize, it’s their money, they can do what they so chose, so don’t try to force people to give away money, because people are already doing it themselves.
Frances Snead from Mexico
        Every religion in the world demands caring for the poor, sick and needy. It is the obligation of the rich everywhere to help those less fortunate not only for religious and humanitarian reasons but to contribute to the economic growth and development of the country. Habitually poor people breed revolution and destruction.
        Millions of Mexico’s poor have no land, no job prospects and no hope of improving their life, especially the native tribal people who have been subjugated by the Spanish for centuries. It is obscene to think one man has all that wealth at his disposal and would not assist his country and its people.
James Alex from the UK
        Billionaires should donate the vast majority of their personal wealth. Since much of these billionaire’s "money" is tied to stocks which they can’t really sell without their companies going down with them, it makes sense that people such as Bill Gates will still have extraordinary net-worth. But anything they don’t need for a reasonable day to day and supporting their families should go to charity. The same goes for all people.
Kanhaiya Kumar from India
        I think billionaires should donate enormous sums of money to charity, and I do mean "charity" and not "freeloader". I’m an idealist and I believe that to whom much is given or even of whoever earns infinitely more than he needs, much is expected. In a world where opportunity is astronomically unequal, having lots of money just for one’s self while there are millions of people in the world living in poverty just doesn’t make sense.
Manala Aigbi from Brazil
        I believe billionaires have worked hard for their money and should not be taxed twice just because they are richer than the average person. Maybe a progressive system of taxation should be introduced and utilized by the government and in regards to billionaires being more involved in charity. Of course, most billionaires should be interested in well being of less privileged individuals, as our care for each other is what makes us human.

选项

答案                                                                                 It’s Not Feasible to Force Donation
        Recent years have witnessed a growing donation by millionaires/billionaires such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. They gave away most of their money and left little or even nothing to their heirs. Some government officials proposed it should be made mandatory for billionaires to donate money to charity, which has fueled a heated debate among people. People from the US and Brazil share the point of view that it is rich men’s freedom whether to donate, while people from Mexico, the UK and India hold that it is the obligation of the rich to help the poor, sick and needy. I insist it is not feasible to force the rich to donate for the sake of both human right and social development.
        Firstly, in most modern democratic countries, personal property and fortune are protected by laws. It is human’s basic right to cope with their own money and wealthy people are no exception. Since the rich have already been taxed, it is unfair and unreasonable to force them to give away their fortune. If the rich became reluctant to help the poor, it might trigger hatred and discrepancy between the rich and the poor, which might result in a higher level of crime in local society.
        Secondly, it is important to note that forcing billionaires to donate may hazard social and economic development in the long run. Statistics have shown that wealthy people create more GDP and job opportunities for the society. Under such circumstances, compulsory donation can dampen business investment and social long-term development. As there are various means to improve the welfare of the poor, I can’t see the reason why donation is mandatory for the rich.
        There is no doubt that donation is needed for religious and humanitarian reasons. However, compulsory donation can cause damage to human right and impose adverse effect on social and economic development.

解析         材料罗列了五个来自不同国家的民众对是否该强迫富豪捐款的看法。其中来自美国和巴西的民众持反对意见,而其他人则支持这一做法。
        选段一、五是反对的观点。这两个人都在首句就亮出观点:强调自由(believe in freedom)和不能被二次征税(should not be taxed twice),他们认为强制捐钱实质上就变成征税了。材料五认为他们的钱财也是辛苦所得(worked hard for their money)。由此可总结反对的理由因为人们有自由决定是否捐赠,且富豪的钱财也是辛苦所得。
        其他三人都赞成强制富翁捐钱。选段二认为出于信仰和人道主义(religious and humanitarian reasons),富人有义务(obligation)帮助不幸的人。选段三首句指出富豪应捐赠大部分的个人财富。Since后解释理由是因为富豪捐赠后仍有不菲的股票净值(extraordinary net-worth)。选段四认为独享财富是毫无意义的(doesn’t make sense)。由此可以总结支持者的理由主要有出于宗教和人道主义考虑,为了国家经济的发展,富人捐赠后仍能保持充裕的财富以及众贫独富的无意义。
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