With so much uncertainty in the news and with the prospect of a global economic downturn looming (or God forbid worse!), it was good to read some uplifting and positive news. I applaud a new initiative in New York City to help disadvantaged, "undereducated, incarcerated and unemployed" young black and Latino men in NYC. As explained in a
NY Times article I read yesterday titled, "City Campaign Seeks To Lift Young Black and Latino Men," by Michael Barbaro and Fernanda Santos, "Starting this fall, the administration said it would place job-recruitment centers in public housing complexes where many young black and Latino men live, retrain probation officers......establish new fatherhood classes and assess schools on the academic progress of male black and Latino students." What's so interesting about this new program is that Mayor Bloomberg who is a billionaire and also the mayor of NYC, is using some of his personal wealth to cover part of the cost of the program. The mayor can well afford it, but it is still very generous of him and he deserves praise for doing it. (He seems to be spending a lot of money lately, he also just purchased a magnificent estate in Southhampton, Long Island).
Mr. Bloomberg is a very wealthy man. It seems to me that the billionaires of the world are going to have to step up and share their wealth with others, following the good example of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. They are philanthropists who use large parts of their fortunes for the good of humankind. Through their generosity and goodness, they encourage others to do so, which I think is very noble.
Unfortunately, many of the world economies are in trouble and it's a fact that individual billionaires throughout the world hold vast amounts of wealth. I hope and pray they will follow the good examples of rich philanthropists and give to good causes to help lift the downtrodden and those who are suffering from famine as well.
They will receive many blessings for their generosity. It's true the more you give, the more blessings that come back to you. I've seen that happen over and over again.
NJA
