@bean I agree with you. I note however that there are a *lot* of billionaires (way more than the dozen or so assholes that are always in the news) and its possible that one or more of them have done things like this without attribution to avoid "publicity." I wonder if it would be possible to create a way for them to do things like this without anyone knowing it was them, would they use it? Could be an interesting experiment.

@bean I think almost by definition, a billionaire is someone who values wealth and power over basically anything else. (Including ethics, or even their own happiness.) Because if they didn't, they wouldn't have made the choices that made them a billionaire. Or would make choices that make them no longer a billionaire.

I certainly have my own list of boring and wild things I'd do with that kind of wealth.
- Found a video game studio that exclusively makes point and click adventure games about mustelids.
- Open a used bookstore in my hometown that will just stay open even if it runs at a loss. Unlike the ones that no longer exist.
- But some historic buildings (the old train station in west Oakland is one I think about) to restore and turn into museums or other things that are useful to the public.
- Donate money to my alma matter, but instead of naming something after me, they need to build a Cthulhu hall or something.

@bean

I think they all have a mental illness. They seem unable to understand the concept of ENOUGH money.

@bean
That stuff for the artists is *so* *cheap* as well if you're a billionaire. Fit out a warehouse as studios in every city. Pay off the mortgage for a gig venue. Make a zero-paperwork fund for arts projects. They can pretend it's like their VC investments, who cares if 99% of them "fail".
On the other end, give away free tickets to events. Throw babysitting in as well. Vouchers for books by debut authors or locally produced films.
All of things I think have been done, but with billionaire money...