From: Dickey, Michael F (michael_f_dickey@groton.pfizer.com)
Date: Fri Nov 15 2002 - 11:14:10 MST
-----Original Message-----
From: Charles Hixson [mailto:charleshixsn@earthlink.net]
Dickey, Michael F wrote:
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Alexander Sheppard [mailto:alexandersheppard@hotmail.com]
>" Do you think the fruits of Bill Gates labor is really all that $50
>billion?"
>
>Do you think that the fruits of his labor are not? If not, how much do you
>think they are worth? And how to you justify how much you think they are
>worth? Is it just an arbitrary whim?
>
>
>
"Yes. I believe that Mr. Gates has done very little of permanent worth. "
<Snip anti microsoft commentary>
I have no doubt that many people dislike what Miscrosoft has done and is
doing and what it has done at Gates leading, but this is secondary to the
nature of question that Alexander implied, and I am not informed enough to
intelligently comment on the moral / immoral aspects of Bill's behavior.
Replace Bill Gates with any millionaire or billionaire and ask yourself the
same question that Alexander is asking 'Is his labor really worth $x billion
dollars' and that was the topic of this discussion.
If a man produces something that saves an hour of productive time for 1
billion people every day, how much is that worth? And who decides its
worth? Its up between each individual who had an hour saved to decide for
themselves, or for a centralized state authority to decide, its one or the
other. Alexander seems to imply he (or the economic system he proposes) has
the moral authority to determine what value other people should place on
things, instead of letting those people decide the value for themselves.
Michael
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