Tuesday, August 11, 2009

What would you do with a Billion?

Yes and that's a Billion Washingtons. This is not a trick question and there are no hidden parts to the question. One simple direct question - What would you do if you were given a Billion USD.

Its nice to see people come up with a variety of answers and more importantly similar ones. Almost everybody who gets this question asked, answers philanthropically with sentences like ' I will spend most of it on fighting poverty, world hunger and environment protection/global warming'. Though it is nice that everybody thinks of saving the world first, is that really what will happen once you land with the Billion.

Lets take a closer and practical look at the problem and the common answer.

A Billion is a lot of money. There is no denying that. This much money can fix a lot of problems in today's world where almost everything and anything is possible if you can pay for it. Now there is no denying that either. Setting up stuff for goodwill is not an overnight process. It takes a lot of time, effort and thought to get it right. Small mistakes could end the money in wrong hands and not to mention that lots of money brings in lots of problems. There are folks all along who want a piece of that wealth for themselves. Not just people who you need to work on your philanthropic project, even family members are interested too. More money means more greed.

By the time you realize what is going on and keep everybody in check, you have already spent a whole lot of time and the interest and zeal with which you took up this task has faded away. Now this is what makes this question a tough one to answer.

I am yet to come across an answer that I feel would really work in a practical world. As for me, I would answer the question as - ' You keep the money and do all this philanthropic work. As a payment for getting all of it done, you can keep half of it if you like to after the task is complete. I am content with what I have. Thanks'. Honestly. smirk and wink.

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