Fast-forward to 2005, when multi-multi-gazillionaire Warren Buffett announced he is giving away nearly all of his fortune. Bill Gates followed suit with a similar announcement, and soon something called The Giving Pledge was born. Billionaires only, minimum donation: 50% of your loot. So far 40 billionaires have signed on. But there's a problem. There's no magnifying glass.
If I had gone out to the sidewalk with just the plank, and waited for it to be miraculously inscribed with "World's Best Mom" all by itself, I would have been waiting a long time. I'd still be waiting today, 33 years later. Because no matter how hard the sun and I tried, there is just no way to accomplish that goal without one important thing: focus.
These billionaires have the ability to concentrate their funds on a single problem at a time, and wipe it out. But they aren't. They are essentially walking into the middle of the street with bushels full of cash, in different places and at different times, throwing it all up in the air, and letting the wind determine where it goes. And in 33 years, we will all be wondering where all the money went, and why nothing of any substance was done with it.
This project needs focus. Cure the common cold. Invent a cheap, portable, high-volume water desalination & purification process. Stop the spread of malaria. Solar cells. Wind turbines. Lightweight, high-power batteries. Oil skimmer. Nano technology. Pick a project, pick a disease, pick a problem, and do SOMETHING, for the love of Mike!
Some will respond with the cute and pithy truism, "Nine women can't make a baby in a month." And while that may literally be true, it's just an excuse. If I have learned one thing in my life, it is this: nobody can find a single problem the world is facing today that can't be solved --- in its entirety --- with more money, time and resources. All that is required is for somebody to pick a problem, decide they are going to do what's needed to fix it, and persist until the job is done.
Billionaires, if you're listening, you're smart people. If you're not smart enough, you can hire smarter people. Make a Top 10 List of difficult problems, the effect they are having on society, and the money, time, and effort needed to fix them. Narrow it down to 3 that can be done the cheapest and the fastest.
And then change the world. That was what you set out to do in the first place, wasn't it?
