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A Challenge For Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg
They say that great minds think alike. If that is so in the business world, I have a challenge for two well known and very wealthy cultural icons. As of this writing it is December of 2015 and Donald Trump is the front runner in the race for a 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate. The Donald has repeatedly proclaimed that he has offered to fix various situations which he perceives as problems encountered and unsolved by local officials, state officials and the federal government if they would just give him the chance to do it. Since he says he has not had that chance, ge intimates that millions of Americans are losing out on his generous offers. Mark Zuckerberg just announced that he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are parents to a new baby girl. They intend to celebrate her birth by giving away billions in Facebook stock to causes that they consider important like getting people connected, keeping people healthy, supporting under-funded educational programs and funding various energy initiatives. Sadly, I doubt that most people will actually benefit from the good intentions of either of these people at any point in the near future. So let’s try this...
Over 68,000 people (including many families and veterans) are homeless in New York City and many consider that a conservative estimate. I challenge the Mayor of New York City to allow Donald Trump to attempt to solve that problem or significantly reduce the number of homeless by the time the 2016 Republican National Convention is held next summer. I challenge Mister Trump to get busy and do something about solving the homeless problem if the Mayor will allow it. And that does not mean shipping them off to other states as has happened in the past and continues to occur in many USA cities today. I believe that Trump is an honest man who means what he says and says what he means when it comes to being a real problem solver. Since it is alleged he is worth over eight billion dollars and has personally built a huge and mostly successful business empire, I also believe that he possesses the funds, know how, friends, business associates and influence to approach and solve the homeless problem as no one else could.
Mark Zuckerberg lives in California. This is a state where homes in various suburban areas that once cost below twenty or thirty thousand dollars now sell for over a half million dollars or more. It is a place where average people not making six figures a year cannot afford to rent even the most modest of apartments, buy gas or sometimes even eat. Instead of donating billions of dollars in Facebook stock to causes which will not directly impact the most needy of Americans living in his state anytime soon, I challenge Mister Zuckerberg to use his money and the same amazing creativity that has built Facebook into a multi-pronged business empire to create a system which will immediately help to solve the homeless problem and address the income and cost inequities that affect the needy in California. I do not think that this is an unfair request given that the people often ignored by the wealthy and near wealthy of that state are the very ones that provide Californians with their morning coffee, clean their houses, do their repairs, build their homes and work at civil service jobs that people with more marketable skills scuff at.
In the words of Charles Dickens from A Christmas Carol: “At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.” My hope is that Misters Trump and Zuckerberg will not respond in the same spirit that the as yet unredeemed Mister Scrooge did when he said, “Are there no prisons?” asked Scrooge. “Plenty of prisons,” said the gentleman, laying down the pen again. “And the Union workhouses?” demanded Scrooge. “Are they still in operation?” “They are. Still,” returned the gentleman, “I wish I could say they were not.”
The only difference in that conversation today would be that a modern Scrooge might reply, “Are the homeless shelters still functioning?” Yes, but many would rather die on the street than sleep in one if there was even room. “Are the food closets still active?” Yes, but they do not have enough food for all of the needy or the kind of food that really provides a good meal for people each day. “Are Food Stamp programs still better funded today than every before?” Yes, but more people are hungry than ever before. All this occurs while many Californians eat dinners at wonderful restaurants where just a basket of bread can easily cost over $100. “Do the welfare hotels still have rooms available?” Well, many do, many do not, and those that do are not affordable, proper or even safe for homeless families. Considering all this I hope that my challenge to these amazing people will not be ignored. Not for my sake, but for the sake of all the people that will not have a happy holiday or even a reasonably happy life.
You have my permission to pass this on to all...
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