There are many super-rich who give generously to charity, e.g. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Ted Turner. Now Paris Hilton's grandfather Barron Hilton is donating 97% of his net worth to charity. The move might leave less money to Paris and Nicky Hilton.
The money will go to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The website says the following: "Be ever watchful for the opportunity to shelter little children with the umbrella of your charity; be generous to their schools, their hospitals and their places of worship. For, as they must bear the burdens of our mistakes, so are they in their innocence the repositories of our hopes for the upward progress of humanity."
28 December 2007
18 December 2007
The Seal Clubbers
I have just read an opinion piece titled Who Will Defend the Seal-Clubbers?
As you can probably tell from the title, the author defends seal-clubbing. He claims that it's okay because there are so many seals in the world and that they eat too much fish. It is okay to kill them then. By not killing them you are dooming the fish to extinction because seals are fat consumers of fish.
I suppose when Adolf Hitler II comes along and starts killing humans because we are using up too much resources like oil then the author of this opinion piece will support the killing of humans too.
Then the author talks about how seal clubbing is nothing compared to the many cows killed for meat everyday. He then talks about China and how organs are harvested there. I suppose if other people do it, it must be okay. According to Wikipedia this is a fallacy, a red herring (see Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right).
Who's to say many people aren't appalled at the actions of the Chinese government or the actions of farmers?
Further Reading:
Protect Seals (Humane Society USA)
Clubbing Baby Seals (Warning: disturbing video from PETA)
As you can probably tell from the title, the author defends seal-clubbing. He claims that it's okay because there are so many seals in the world and that they eat too much fish. It is okay to kill them then. By not killing them you are dooming the fish to extinction because seals are fat consumers of fish.
I suppose when Adolf Hitler II comes along and starts killing humans because we are using up too much resources like oil then the author of this opinion piece will support the killing of humans too.
Then the author talks about how seal clubbing is nothing compared to the many cows killed for meat everyday. He then talks about China and how organs are harvested there. I suppose if other people do it, it must be okay. According to Wikipedia this is a fallacy, a red herring (see Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right).
Who's to say many people aren't appalled at the actions of the Chinese government or the actions of farmers?
Further Reading:
Protect Seals (Humane Society USA)
Clubbing Baby Seals (Warning: disturbing video from PETA)
17 December 2007
Plant Your Own Trees Online
If you feel bad about polluting the world with your car you can buy carbon offsets, which reduce carbon dioxide emissions by investing in technology or by planting trees.
Some people believe that there are many companies out there that take your money but don't actually do anything.
This is why I believe that there needs to be some accountability. What would be a great idea is a firm that carbon offsets by planting trees but, to allow customers to verify that everything is legit, the customers can walk into the plantation themselves to look at their own trees. Each tree will have on its trunk a label with the customer's name written on it.
I have been searching on the Internet and there does seem to be some sites that allow you to do this. E.g. at Rainforest Rescue.
Giving customers an opportunity to inspect for themselves in person I believe will wipe away any doubts about legitimacy.
Some people believe that there are many companies out there that take your money but don't actually do anything.
This is why I believe that there needs to be some accountability. What would be a great idea is a firm that carbon offsets by planting trees but, to allow customers to verify that everything is legit, the customers can walk into the plantation themselves to look at their own trees. Each tree will have on its trunk a label with the customer's name written on it.
I have been searching on the Internet and there does seem to be some sites that allow you to do this. E.g. at Rainforest Rescue.
Giving customers an opportunity to inspect for themselves in person I believe will wipe away any doubts about legitimacy.
13 December 2007
Santa Claus is Un-Christian
I have heard many Christian say that Santa Claus is part of their religion, and they must teach their children about Santa. This is not true.
Before we start, we must agree on some fundamental things. Firstly, we agree that Santa Claus is a lie. No reasonable adult will believe that there exists a fat man who speeds around the world in a sleigh powered by flying reindeers. Once we can agree on the obvious fact that Santa is a lie, then we can get to the biblical stuff.
Colossians 3:9-10 says, "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."
These verses alone state that Santa is sinful. Santa is a lie. Lies are sinful because they go against the Word of God, and hence Santa is sinful and un-Christian.
Some atheist parents agree but like to lie to their children about Santa. They believe then that Christian children should not be taught to give away this secret to other children and spoil Christmas for the atheist children. But the bible says otherwise.
Matthew 18:15 says, "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over."
James 5:19-20 says, "My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins."
Some Christians agree that lying is sin but they reason that we are all sinners and that we are not perfect. They also say that Jesus is forgiving and that Christians will be forgiven of our sins. This is not true. Consider Hebrews 10:26-27, which says, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God."
Sure, sin is tempting, but we must try not to sin. Imagine if you're a woman and your husband saw a sexy girl and thought to himself, "I know I shouldn't sleep with her, but we all sin so never mind, I'll just sleep with her."
Some say that Christianity promotes love, faith, and generosity, which are values Santa teaches, so it's okay to preach about Santa. But Scientology teaches all those things, and I don't think your priest or pastor is going to recommend you tell your kids about that religion.
Before we start, we must agree on some fundamental things. Firstly, we agree that Santa Claus is a lie. No reasonable adult will believe that there exists a fat man who speeds around the world in a sleigh powered by flying reindeers. Once we can agree on the obvious fact that Santa is a lie, then we can get to the biblical stuff.
Colossians 3:9-10 says, "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."
These verses alone state that Santa is sinful. Santa is a lie. Lies are sinful because they go against the Word of God, and hence Santa is sinful and un-Christian.
Some atheist parents agree but like to lie to their children about Santa. They believe then that Christian children should not be taught to give away this secret to other children and spoil Christmas for the atheist children. But the bible says otherwise.
Matthew 18:15 says, "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over."
James 5:19-20 says, "My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins."
Some Christians agree that lying is sin but they reason that we are all sinners and that we are not perfect. They also say that Jesus is forgiving and that Christians will be forgiven of our sins. This is not true. Consider Hebrews 10:26-27, which says, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God."
Sure, sin is tempting, but we must try not to sin. Imagine if you're a woman and your husband saw a sexy girl and thought to himself, "I know I shouldn't sleep with her, but we all sin so never mind, I'll just sleep with her."
Some say that Christianity promotes love, faith, and generosity, which are values Santa teaches, so it's okay to preach about Santa. But Scientology teaches all those things, and I don't think your priest or pastor is going to recommend you tell your kids about that religion.
12 December 2007
The Ethical Hedge
The Genocide in Darfur is very worrying. Over 200,000 people have been killed and several million are at threat. The genocide is carried out by the Sudanese Government, which is funded mainly by PetroChina.
The Save Darfur Coalition is urging people to divest or sell stock in PetroChina (see Divest for Darfur). It is also urging people to get their fund managers to divest from unethical companies as well.
If we assume that the firm was accurately priced to begin with, if many ethical people divest from PetroChina, it would become undervalued and unethical people would spot a cheap stock and start investing in the firm, thereby reaping the profits. Divestment or negative screening then effectively causes a transfer of wealth from ethical people to unethical people.
What I suggest is that ethical people keep their money in PetroChina and buy even more stock. As the firm's price-earnings ratio increases, unethical and self-interested investors will steer clear thereby keeping much the profits of the company in the hands of ethical investors. These ethical investors then donate dividends to a charity that acts against the unethical firm, e.g. the Save Darfur Coalition.
As the unethical company starts to perform badly, its earnings drop, its share price drops, your profits drop, and your donation to the charity drops, and so this system self-corrects. The severity of immorality caused by the firm is proportional to the amount going to the charity that combats the immorality and so you have effectively hedged against it.
The Ethical Hedge, as I call it, can be done not only on PetroChina but other unethical firms such as those found in the Vice Fund.
This idea will work if the charity chosen is effective. There is some controversy over the effectiveness of the Save Darfur Coalition.
Update: Even though I'm Australian, I have been reading up on the American Elections and interestingly Barack Obama invests in the Vanguard FTSE Social Index Fund. He invested in this after divesting from a fund that invested in companies that fund the genocidal Sudanese government. At the Sudan Divestment Taskforce, arguments are made that targeted divestment can be effective. The argument I made was that if ethical people divested, the firm would be undervalued and unethical value investors would spot an undervalued stock and start investing in it. However, would these unethical value investors invest in the stock if they believe that the divestment program would continue to reduce the stock price? Buying stock and then having the price fall is not what investors want.
The Save Darfur Coalition is urging people to divest or sell stock in PetroChina (see Divest for Darfur). It is also urging people to get their fund managers to divest from unethical companies as well.
If we assume that the firm was accurately priced to begin with, if many ethical people divest from PetroChina, it would become undervalued and unethical people would spot a cheap stock and start investing in the firm, thereby reaping the profits. Divestment or negative screening then effectively causes a transfer of wealth from ethical people to unethical people.
What I suggest is that ethical people keep their money in PetroChina and buy even more stock. As the firm's price-earnings ratio increases, unethical and self-interested investors will steer clear thereby keeping much the profits of the company in the hands of ethical investors. These ethical investors then donate dividends to a charity that acts against the unethical firm, e.g. the Save Darfur Coalition.
As the unethical company starts to perform badly, its earnings drop, its share price drops, your profits drop, and your donation to the charity drops, and so this system self-corrects. The severity of immorality caused by the firm is proportional to the amount going to the charity that combats the immorality and so you have effectively hedged against it.
The Ethical Hedge, as I call it, can be done not only on PetroChina but other unethical firms such as those found in the Vice Fund.
This idea will work if the charity chosen is effective. There is some controversy over the effectiveness of the Save Darfur Coalition.
Update: Even though I'm Australian, I have been reading up on the American Elections and interestingly Barack Obama invests in the Vanguard FTSE Social Index Fund. He invested in this after divesting from a fund that invested in companies that fund the genocidal Sudanese government. At the Sudan Divestment Taskforce, arguments are made that targeted divestment can be effective. The argument I made was that if ethical people divested, the firm would be undervalued and unethical value investors would spot an undervalued stock and start investing in it. However, would these unethical value investors invest in the stock if they believe that the divestment program would continue to reduce the stock price? Buying stock and then having the price fall is not what investors want.
10 December 2007
Rudd Signs Kyoto
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has ratified the Kyoto Protocol, leaving the U.S. as the only country left out. I think this is a good move. Some people I talk to do not like it. Here are some of their arguments.
Big polluters China and India don't have to cut their emissions by much.
Climate change is like 200 kids urinating into a pool that they all eventually swim in. Each individual deciding not to pee in the pool isn't going to make much difference, but it is going to make the pool slightly cleaner. But if everyone has that attitude, no one is going to stop. Rich countries much stop first because developing countries will literally die if they stop. Most of the energy used in India and China is used for necessities like transport and food preparation. In Australia and America it is mainly used for luxuries. I think it is fair therefore to ask for higher reduction from richer countries.
I also think this should apply for individual within a country. That is, rich people within Australia should cut back more than poor people within Australia. For this to be achieved, I suggest the government tax all sources of energy, from natural gas to oil to coal, and then once this happens we all pay more for energy thereby forcing all of us to conserve energy. To stop poor people from paying too much, simply give them means-tested energy vouchers they can use to buy energy. For example, for every dollar you earn less than $30,000 per year you receive x kilojoules of free energy.
Australia is a small country. It won't make a difference.
It will make a difference. Even a small difference is a difference.
The economy will suffer because businesses will have to pay more for energy inputs.
The economy might slow down if we cut cardon emissions. But consider this. The economy will be boosted if we allow an Australian child sex industry to develop.
In fact, that is a good analogy. In many places all over the world the child sex industry is still going strong, but leaders of some countries have put their foot down and stopped it. It may not make that much of a big difference to stop child abuse in one small country if you consider child abuse all over the world, but it is a difference. These countries suffer economically from the lack of a child sex industry.
If I happen to save one child from sexual abuse, cynics may say that saving one child will make no difference because one child is abused every 13 minutes. If I save one child, another child will be abused 13 minutes later and so on ad infinitum. While this is true, I think it's better to save one child than to save no child.
I read in the news yesterday that, now that it is signed, the price of groceries, electricity and petrol are expected to go up dramatically.
Of course, that's expected. I would hope petrol prices go up because that will stop people from polluting too much.
I suggested vouchers for poor people who will be hit with higher energy bills. This will ensure that most of the cost burden will be on the rich.
Food prices going up may also be due to Americans producing less food to eat because they are instead using that food to make biofuels to run their cars. Apparently they want to rely less on Middle Eastern oil. The price hike may also be caused by instability in the Middle East, demand from Asia, and even the exchange rate. So don't blame everything on environmental regulation.
Big polluters China and India don't have to cut their emissions by much.
Climate change is like 200 kids urinating into a pool that they all eventually swim in. Each individual deciding not to pee in the pool isn't going to make much difference, but it is going to make the pool slightly cleaner. But if everyone has that attitude, no one is going to stop. Rich countries much stop first because developing countries will literally die if they stop. Most of the energy used in India and China is used for necessities like transport and food preparation. In Australia and America it is mainly used for luxuries. I think it is fair therefore to ask for higher reduction from richer countries.
I also think this should apply for individual within a country. That is, rich people within Australia should cut back more than poor people within Australia. For this to be achieved, I suggest the government tax all sources of energy, from natural gas to oil to coal, and then once this happens we all pay more for energy thereby forcing all of us to conserve energy. To stop poor people from paying too much, simply give them means-tested energy vouchers they can use to buy energy. For example, for every dollar you earn less than $30,000 per year you receive x kilojoules of free energy.
Australia is a small country. It won't make a difference.
It will make a difference. Even a small difference is a difference.
The economy will suffer because businesses will have to pay more for energy inputs.
The economy might slow down if we cut cardon emissions. But consider this. The economy will be boosted if we allow an Australian child sex industry to develop.
In fact, that is a good analogy. In many places all over the world the child sex industry is still going strong, but leaders of some countries have put their foot down and stopped it. It may not make that much of a big difference to stop child abuse in one small country if you consider child abuse all over the world, but it is a difference. These countries suffer economically from the lack of a child sex industry.
If I happen to save one child from sexual abuse, cynics may say that saving one child will make no difference because one child is abused every 13 minutes. If I save one child, another child will be abused 13 minutes later and so on ad infinitum. While this is true, I think it's better to save one child than to save no child.
I read in the news yesterday that, now that it is signed, the price of groceries, electricity and petrol are expected to go up dramatically.
Of course, that's expected. I would hope petrol prices go up because that will stop people from polluting too much.
I suggested vouchers for poor people who will be hit with higher energy bills. This will ensure that most of the cost burden will be on the rich.
Food prices going up may also be due to Americans producing less food to eat because they are instead using that food to make biofuels to run their cars. Apparently they want to rely less on Middle Eastern oil. The price hike may also be caused by instability in the Middle East, demand from Asia, and even the exchange rate. So don't blame everything on environmental regulation.
09 December 2007
Is Hair Trade Fair Trade?
There is a piece today in The Age talking about whether the international hair trade is fair.
Firstly, let me say that I hate getting my hair cut. I do it only because I have to. I have to cut my hair because when it get too long it gets into my eyes. Having hair strands stabbing at surface of your eye is not pleasant.
It surprises me therefore that some people are willing to pay money not to remove hair from their head but to have hair put on them! Most people pay barbers to remove hair. Hair is like rubbish and the barber is like a rubbish collection. A person who wants hair extentions then is like a person who wants to pay money for rubbish. As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure.
What troubles me is that The Age is going on about how hair in Australia doesn't actually come from Europe and that most of it comes from Asia! But wait, what is so horrible about that? Hair is hair. Why does it matter where it comes from? The article then goes on about how they are worried that people in Asian countries, especially in India, China, and Russia, are being exploited. Some children as young as 12 give their hair.
This I don't think is a major problem. When I was 12 my parents made me go to the barber to get my hair cut. Most parents would do this because long hair is hard and costly to maintain (e.g. you have to use more shampoo). It is actually more economical to cut your hair when it grow to a certain length. So if children are going to have their hair cut anyway, why not sell it and make some money from it? Why not? This money can be used to buy education and health products for the kids.
Firstly, let me say that I hate getting my hair cut. I do it only because I have to. I have to cut my hair because when it get too long it gets into my eyes. Having hair strands stabbing at surface of your eye is not pleasant.
It surprises me therefore that some people are willing to pay money not to remove hair from their head but to have hair put on them! Most people pay barbers to remove hair. Hair is like rubbish and the barber is like a rubbish collection. A person who wants hair extentions then is like a person who wants to pay money for rubbish. As they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure.
What troubles me is that The Age is going on about how hair in Australia doesn't actually come from Europe and that most of it comes from Asia! But wait, what is so horrible about that? Hair is hair. Why does it matter where it comes from? The article then goes on about how they are worried that people in Asian countries, especially in India, China, and Russia, are being exploited. Some children as young as 12 give their hair.
This I don't think is a major problem. When I was 12 my parents made me go to the barber to get my hair cut. Most parents would do this because long hair is hard and costly to maintain (e.g. you have to use more shampoo). It is actually more economical to cut your hair when it grow to a certain length. So if children are going to have their hair cut anyway, why not sell it and make some money from it? Why not? This money can be used to buy education and health products for the kids.
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