Seen from a broader perspective, money is not everything; it requires more than money to accomplish what’s listed in the above number-breakdown. $125 billion could only theoretically educate 80 million children in Africa for 12.5 years—if they also have the teachers, and schools, and social infrastructure, and political stability, to support it.[20] A poor country doesn’t just turn X billions into Y educated children: There’s corruption, violence, uncertainty, inefficiency. And, as the Gates Foundation has shown, donating large sums can have the unintended effect of solving one problem while warping a society[21]—if all the money is going into AIDS treatment, doctors may neglect basic health, because they can become a lot richer treating AIDS.
Yet the billionaire pledge speaks volumes[22]. Another point that needs to be kept in mind is philanthropy, and like anything else, it needs a game plan[23].
Vocabulary
1. 2010年6月,比尔•盖茨和梅琳达•盖茨夫妇与沃伦•巴菲特启动了“捐赠宣言”行动,旨在号召亿万富翁们承诺,将起码半数的净资产用于慈善捐赠。pledge: 可用作动词,“(为某一目的)提供(一定数目的钱款)”,也可用作名词,“承诺(给予某组织)的钱款”,下文的pledger指“承诺捐款者”。
2. household: 家喻户晓的;句中提到的亿万富翁为:大导演George Lucas、洛克菲勒家族掌门人David Rockefeller、甲骨文公司创始人Larry Ellison和传媒大亨、纽约市长Michael Bloomberg。
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