[sympil]

There are no instances in the history of the world where the wealthy, out of the goodness of their hearts, have solved hunger, childhood education, funded research programs at scale, provided safe drinking water, etc. These things are handled by government. Government is far more efficient at this than hoping rich people act in the public’s best interest.

[s1artibartfast]

However, there is a plethora of instances where the wealthy have addressed these issues, not out of the goodness of their hearts, but in search of revenue.

[sympil]

Rich people didn’t feed the poor. They didn’t provide universal k-12 education. They didn’t fund enough universities to provide higher education for the masses. They didn’t provide clean water. They didn’t get rid of smog or acid rain. They didn’t band together to start space research or build the highway system.

But there are a few instances where a rich person spent a trivial amount of their wealth to fund a project or two in the interest of humanity.

[tbrownaw]

> Rich people didn’t feed the poor.

Al Capone's soup kitchens?

[sympil]

Mass hunger was solved by government. Not charities. There are instances where charity fed someone but the issue was solved when government did something. Nothing works better at scale than good governance.