There have been a few significant events in the past few days in the technology world.  Apple released the iPod Video.  Microsoft signed a deal with Yahoo to have interoperability of their Instant Messaging (IM) users and Google announced the Google Foundation.  With the Google Foundation, if the stock goes up, the Foundation gets more.  If the stock goes down, the Foundation gets less.  That's nice.  Its probably generosity just like a Bay Street stock trader would imagine it should be.

I am all for socially responsible companies but I do not agree with this.  First of all, it is not necessarily reasonable to expect the shareholders of Google to commit profit to a philanthropic arm.  Strictly speaking, profit is supposed to be divested between the owners of a company (its shareholders) and then those shareholders can donate as they wish (or as I would prefer it to be taxed on their personal profit and that money spent by the government of a liberal democracy).

The Bill & Melinda Gates foundation has assets of over $25 billion and is bankrolled by those two individuals.  Brin and Page of Google collectively have $11 billion.  As they are both under 35, I would estimate that they could live very comfortably (hey, go ahead and buy the Larry Ellison style boat) on say, $1 billion each.  So why not just donate $9 billion and kick off that foundation in style.  And maybe they could join other Americans in championing a reversal in the disturbing trend of a huge disparity between rich and poor.

Seriously Google.  Eye on the prize.  And Brin and Page (and other excessively wealthy Americans), please stand up for social democracy.  Let's not look to corporations to save us.