Larry Page Hasn't A Clue What Charity Is

Well, that ruins whatever respect for Mr. Page I had left. I used to occasionally point to him as a fellow Gen-X'er (a fellow salt and pepper haired Gen-X'er at that) who led a corporation and became an infulencial leader and innovator. This is because too many in my generation struggle to get hired, let alone land an opportunity to found and lead a company.

Well, he's an idiot. And his definition of charity is frankly twisted and dangerous.

Establishing large, well run, philanthropic institutions is nothing new. Carnegie and Rockefeller were pioneers of creating highly managed charitable giving. But, and this is a huge but, those foundations give money to charitable causes, which directly assist the poor, not corporations, which might produce benefits for them. Those organizations, and their many imitators, have supported colleges and universities, built public libraries -my hometown library in Brockton was built with Carnegie funds- built hospitals, clinics and research facilities, fed the poor, and provided open space and public recreation for countless people.

Larry Page hasn't a clue what charity is, and it's pretty clear he never will.