The “How” of Using Your Wealth While You are Still Living (Part 2)

Author’s Note:  Many different subjects will be covered in this essay.

I have explained the “why” of using your excess wealth to improve society, be it your community or country, mainly to have a more fulfilling, rewarding, and productive life.  

In this essay I will explain the what and the how.  Mainly, how to use your excess for what projects.  I wrote a list in the introduction of this book, but in reality, the list is endless.  You can use your imagination on what you might want to accomplish.

In three previous essays, I have covered rebuilding and upgrading our infrastructure.  Here, I meant roads, bridges, railroads, and water-piping systems, and in one essay, I gave one example, covering the present problems of Flint, Michigan, but all this applies to the whole country.  I will cover a wide variety of subjects in this essay, and it is long.

You’ve no doubt seen in the news towns and cities flooding from the East coast to the Midwest.  You’ve also seen drought stricken areas from the Mid-western farm belt all the way to California.

I propose to build a nationwide spillway system.  There is one in existence in New Orleans.  That city is below sea level.  Whenever water on the Mississippi River reaches flood, two gates in the river are opened, releasing the water to flow elsewhere, preventing the city from being flooded.  Unfortunately, the water flows to other towns, flooding them instead of New Orleans.  That’s just passing the problem from one town to another.

The very first project can be to extend this spillway system to Texas, providing much needed water to drought prone areas, especially farms.  This would both prevent New Orleans and other Louisiana towns from being flooded and provide water to Texas in times of drought.  Should Texas be susceptible to heavy rains, extend the spillway system all the way to Los Angeles.  Along the way, water will be needed, right to L.A.

From here, build a web of spillway systems to channel flood water from any flood prone town to any drought stricken town, all the way to California, to provide water for lakes, reservoirs, and farms, not to mention water to put out massive fires.

Money would be saved from flood damage and drought.  Tens of thousands of people would be employed, if only temporarily.

Paying for a massive project like this cannot be done be private money alone.  However, if this project is proposed, and the plans are laid out, with private money invested, the government and other entities, perhaps money from corporations, and other countries, as an example, would all step in to subsidize it in one form or another.

I proposed a project like this in a book like this simply to tell you that there are projects not yet proposed that can solve badly needed problems, and should enough private wealth can be acquired from enough people in that category, we just might be on the way to not only dealing with a major disaster like flooding, and perhaps fires, but hoarded wealth could be put to good use…and produce more wealth.  The government certainly would not have to deal with major flood disasters, and how much money would that save the government?  In a multiplier effect, there would also be employment, more tax money to be paid from the jobs this would create, and water available to drought stricken areas, and that would save the government, and taxpayer, even more money.  Projects like this produce a positive chain reaction, sort of a massive eucatastrophe.

The other major project would be to upgrade our electric grid into a smart grid, where electricity would be guided by computers to go where ever it is needed, in the event of a massive blackout in some area.  Our old grid is in the need of an upgrade, and there are already proposals in upgrading it.

New businesses, using new sources of energy, need to be established.  We know of solar and wind, but there are presently little known discoveries of new, clean energy sources.  In one instance, someone discovered a way to generate electricity using nuclear waste.  The waste problem is well known and, as previously mention, there would be a multiplier effect should this new technology be utilized.  Nuclear waste would be reduced, more electricity would be generated without the use of coal or oil, more devices, such as computers and electric cars would be powered, less oil would be imported, and you can continue from here. 

This is just one example, but the point is to find these inventors, examine their projects to see if they are feasible and how they can benefit society, and if they are, mass produce them and get them on the market.  Many of these inventors face many obstacles and never get their inventions on the market, which is a great loss for society.

Incidentally, should these inventions prove valuable, whoever invests in them will increase their wealth, along with the inventors (and you must give him his share of the wealth, which, for him, should be huge).

Other inventions or discoveries can be funded and brought to market.  Fund research, from physics and energy to finding a cure for diseases, especially for newly discovered ones.  Cancer is being conquered, slowly but surely, and more needs to be invested in that.

In this case, one can build a laboratory at a university, establish a new college, university, hospital, or build a hospital at a well-established university centered around finding cures for diseases.  The patients having these sicknesses are out there.

New schools are always needed, especially with America’s increasing population.  In the inner cities, from New York to Los Angeles, public schools, in all levels, are greatly deteriorating from the rotting of the building itself, complete with mold, pests (insects and rats), and rusting water pipes, to the quality of the education each student is receiving.

Many Hollywood actors (I’ll use these as an example, but this can apply to anyone) already warm up to causes, such as Robert Redford and Leonardo DiCaprio on protecting the environment.  Many others especially many child stars, from their careers, receive more money than they can handle.  That, combined with unlimited freedom, becomes a very bad mix.

What if they could be guided to help fix the educational system in their area?!  To start, have them focus on one school per person, be it elementary, middle, or high.  Renovate the school, replace the plumbing, improve the entire building.  If necessary, raze it and put up a new building, with state of the art technology. 

Fix the academic programs to challenge these students, starting with firing bad teachers (if that is permitted.  Otherwise, retrain them.)  Hire new ones, quality teachers who are willing to work with inner city and underprivileged children, teachers that will give them an incentive to be willing to work hard and improve their lot in life.

From this, offer after school programs, be it in technology, vocational jobs such as carpentry, plumbing, or being an electrician.  If a student of oriented towards the arts, offer theater, music, and dance.  

When, in an elementary school, the child discovers who he or she is, or what they want, there could be separate magnet schools, one a performing arts school, another a vocational school, and another for other disciplines (name one).

Other schools for adolescent teens should be established.  Technical schools leading to STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, or at another, Performing Arts.

Any of these schools could lead a promising student to college, with a scholarship.  There are already philanthropists providing scholarships and grants.  There simply needs to be a program, perhaps in the guidance offices of these schools, to do a computer search for them.

There are already colleges and universities across the U.S., but what I feel we need are more community colleges.  They can be used for the first two years of college, leading to more advanced institutions of higher learning.  This would be college more accessible to these communities, especially the inner cities.

With other countries surpassing us in many new technologies, one should invest in these very technologies to catch up and surpass these other countries, or work in cooperation with them, making the U.S. once again a leader in the field of research.

Much of these new technologies presently being developed can be the source of new industries, and new companies that those with excess wealth can establish.

Space development has come into its own.  New space missions to Mars can be privately funded, along with the mining of an asteroid, the building of a new space station/space factory, or the construction of a solar power satellite, beaming energy down to Earth.

Another new technology includes nanotechnology, attaching nano machines or devices to molecules or atoms to manipulate them in building a complex device, a building, or manipulating cells to treat an illness or injury in a human.  The list is endless, and I cannot name any more right now.  You will read about them not listed in this essay.

Should you decide to invest in these new technologies, you would help to create new industries, and your wealth would increase exponentially, for you to invest even more money in more technologies, or wherever you wish to invest.

There are a few more suggestions I would like to include;  helping your community, city, or state out of debt is the first.

There won’t be a profit here, but you can have a say on how the budget should be spent in the future.  Help to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse and set an example to other local and state governments as a whole.

Select a city or region and first clean up the pollution on land and in the waterways.  If there is toxic waste poisoning a community, clean it up and try and make use of the toxic waste, or find a way to permanently dispose of it.  Yes, it’s easier said than done, but with new technologies, a possibility just might be on the horizon.

Plant new forests, either in the U.S, or in other countries.  One could replant jungles in Africa and South America to help clean Earth’s atmosphere of excess Carbon Dioxide and other pollutants.  Jungles need to have fertile ground, and much of it was washed away as these jungles were deforested, but new technologies can be discovered in replenishing the soil and replant these jungles lost.

There are many problems in all walks of life that can catch the interest of any and all peoples, no matter who they are, what they have, or from where they came.

Those of you with excess wealth have a badly needed tool the can fit any major interest you may have, should you decide to put your heart and mind to it.  A good number of these projects can even generate more wealth, to be reinvested in your present project, or start a new one.

Granted, every problem and solution listed here cannot be done with private money alone, even if every immensely wealthy person in the world invested their full wealth and energies into them.  Additional funds can be acquired;  by other people interested in investing or donating, by the government, once they see what projects are feasible, worthwhile, and working, by wealthy immigrants coming into this country, and we should encourage them to come and invest, by companies and corporations should any of these projects fit their interests, and by the projects themselves, should these projects generate more money for reinvestment.

All these projects, and many this author hasn’t mentioned or even imagined, are badly needed if the U.S. is to reemerge as a great and prosperous country (we’re no longer that, but we can be again), and it need contributions of not only the wealthy, but all its citizens.

The U.S. government cannot do it alone.

Alastair Browne

The "Why of Using Your Wealth While You are Still Living (Part 1)

    After reading Carnegie’s essays, the question that no doubt comes to your mind is, “why should we have to give away all our wealth after spending years of hard work trying to acquire it?”

“We should we, after years of trials and tribulations, gains and losses, successes and failures, give all our money away and revert back to the life of poverty, or financial difficulty that we were trying to escape in the first place?”

There are lots of other questions relating to this doctrine, and in this chapter, I will attempt to clarify these matters once and for all.

First and foremost, you don’t have to give away all your wealth.  This is NOT a socialist, or a communist doctrine;  far from it.  In no circumstances do I believe that wealth should be taken away from the rich and redistributed to the poor.  I know that this will do a lot more harm than good.  

If wealth were to be taken from the rich, and here, I mean the productive rich, not the idle rich (I will get into that later in this essay), these people would have no financial tools to continue their businesses, and they would default.  This would result in a shortage of goods, making life more difficult for the rest of society.

As for the poor receiving this confiscated wealth, too little money would be distributed to too many people, leaving the poor with very little extra money in their hands.  They may use it to buy food or repair their homes, or even buy something that they desperately need, but in many cases, others would spend it on pleasures, such as drugs and alcohol, or lottery tickets.

Who really benefits from this commonly held belief?  Nobody, and that is a harsh reality many cannot seem to comprehend.

The second question, “are you encouraging those who are rich, but don’t own a company, to give up ALL their wealth?  What if they want to stash away a few million to buy a home in a luxurious setting and have plenty of money for financial security for the rest of their lives?!”

My answer is no, you do not have to give up all your wealth, or any of it, if you have no desire to do so.  You are very much entitled to your wealth.  You can spend your money on anything you like, and not have to feel guilty about it.  If you made this money honorably, or even inherited it, it’s your money and you can do whatever you like, and no one has the right to judge you for it, including this author.

All in all, I am against the confiscation of wealth and private property;  it all belongs to the owner.  The only exception to this would be where the wealth, and what it bought, was obtained fraudulently, but nothing else.

I have now clarified that, like Andrew Carnegie, I am an Individualist and a Capitalist.  I am NOT a Socialist;  never have been, never will be.

The doctrine, “The Gospel of Wealth” that Carnegie wrote back in 1889 didn’t go over with too many of the rich of that time, but it did state what needed to be said, and applies today more than it did back then, and for the same reasons.  When you observe our present economic state, and what this country, the United States, needs in its rebuilding, you will begin to see why.

Hoarding one’s wealth without using it in any way does nobody any good whatsoever, even to those who are hoarding the wealth.  

Much of the wealth many people obtained is either unearned, or is in the form of inflated salaries.  What we see are CEOs obtaining a salary literally hundreds of times greater than the workers, the backbone, of a company or corporation.  In these situations, and there are many, as inflation progresses, as it always has, these CEOs have raises over $50,000 or more, while the workers obtain a pittance, and are less able to keep up with inflation, thereby reducing their standards of living.  The CEOs then retire and receive a huge severance pay.

There are many young executives on Wall Street getting high six figure salaries simply for having an M.B.A.    CEOs of companies are getting overpaid and bankers are misappropriating money being deposited in these banks.  In the event of a crisis, such as the one that occurred in 2008, they got bailed out by the government in the form of a stimulus package.  These banks and insurance companies then gave out huge bonuses from that stimulus money that was originally meant to save these businesses.

This affects everyone, and a symptom of this crisis was that many homes are foreclosed and many businesses folded, as more and more people are lost their livelihoods.  True, we’re recovering, and employment is increasing, but we’re not out of the woods yet.

What is really bad is that in many businesses, the CEOs and other corporate heads are hoarding their money overseas in banks in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, just to avoid paying taxes in the U.S.  

As these businesses continue to make money, they hoard even more of it.  As of this writing, there is over $1.1 trillion of U.S. money in these banks.  This is just a known estimate.  How do we know that it isn’t much higher?!

These wealthy businessmen are hoarding money that they can’t even begin to spend, and are stashing away more of it all the time.  These are CEOs, wealthy business owners, bank presidents, company presidents, huge corporations, and the list goes gets longer every day.  

Does it matter?  Yes it does, because the taxes they would otherwise pay goes into the federal budget, paying for the services the American people receive, be it the fire and police, the military, the space program, highways, railroads, research and development, public schools, colleges and universities, and thousands of other programs.  Granted, billions of dollars get wasted every year, and that has to stop, but that is for another essay.  

If these individuals and companies and corporations are going to live and be based in the United States, they need to pay for the services provided for them, and that includes roads and protection by the police force.  If they are going to make money in the U.S., they need to pay their fair share of the taxes, like everybody else.

The taxes they would pay would hardly put a dent into their accounts.  They would never miss it.  The problem is greed, pure and simple.  They get money, and they want more money, and more, and they have to stash it somewhere safe.  Then they still want more, and all this is at the expense of the rest of the American people, by way of higher taxes, less public services due to cut backs, foreclosed homes, and closed businesses.

The questions I have for all these people, whether you are a CEO or just someone who inherited your money are, “what are you going to do with all that money?  You can’t even begin to spend it, no matter where you go.  You can’t take it with you when you die.”  

“Are you going to leave it to your children?  Are you going to spoil them?  Spoiling someone simply destroys them, they can’t help but to be that way.  If your children get all that money and they don’t have a skill with which they can use it in a constructive manner, they will bask in luxury, live an idle life, probably revert to drugs and alcohol, that will eventually lead them to the path to destruction.  Where will all that money go then?  Will your children squander it all away?”

Note:  I know there are exceptions where the owner of a business trains his son or daughter to succeed him and when he does, he uses his wealth and position to make the business even better.  In other cases, they will use the money in other constructive ways, creating new businesses of their own, to which I say, “more power to you.” 

One last topic that is in this category are the idle rich;  those who have a lot of money, but don’t do anything but be a part of the jet set.  They travel, go from one party, or function, to another and that’s it.

There are also Hollywood actors and actresses, especially the youth, who, as child actors earned literally millions, but, received too much too soon.  They party, cause trouble, get in trouble, and I don’t entirely blame it on them.  With all that money, they can live where they want and do what they want, and at their age, it is tempting to indulge in great pleasures.  If you were in the position they are in, wealth and fame at an early age, would you have fared any better?

I have now discussed every category, from the productive rich to the idle rich.  They have excess wealth with which they don’t know what to do with.  How are they going to handle it?

If they choose the option of living in idleness and pleasure for the rest of their lives, then their lives will be empty, and they will realize this on their deathbeds.  They will have full bank accounts but wasted lives, accomplishing nothing, and that is not a good feeling to have.  

Now that I have stated the issue, what can be done.  No, I am not suggesting “give away all your money, and your problems will go away.”

I am stating, “use your money for a constructive project so that everybody, being your community, your state, or your country (the U.S., being that this author is an American, and it is aimed at improving American society).  

The reason is that if you are living in idleness, you may be dissatisfied with your life (or you may not be).  I believe that we are all put on this Earth to accomplish a certain task, be it big or small.  I feel, and it is commonly stated, is that we should leave this world a better place than how we found it.  This means that you should do whatever you can to make this world better.  It can be any number of things:  write a book, plant a garden, build a bridge, build a home, clean up your community (I’m going to refrain from saying “the world” here), invent something useful, build anything that would make life better, from, let’s say a shelter for the homeless to a power plant that runs on alternative energy, and everything in between these two.  The list is endless, and there are literally an infinite number of problems that this world has in which they need to be dealt.  

Those who have excess wealth have a tool in which you can deal with them.  It can be anything you want.  Nobody is forcing you what problem to choose.  

You both can and should choose whatever problem interests you, and think up of a solution, or a way to deal with this problem.  What interests you?  Is it building roads and bridges?  Going out into space?  Cleaning up rivers and other waterways, or even the ocean?  Is it animals?  Homeless shelters for all who are homeless?  Is there a country you are interested in helping?  Do you just want to pay off a debt that your home state has?  How about paying off student loans for those who have already graduated but are struggling financially in their careers because of their debts?

Choose a problem, and help to deal with it, for the benefit of society.  Our country is in great financial trouble due to its own foolishness in handling its budget.  It is everybody’s fault for demanding more and more from the government in everything, and now we are paying for it with annual deficits and cumulative debt.  Because of this, we, being your town, city, state, and country are unable to fund badly needed projects and your help is needed.

This would also help you into having something to do, dedicating your life to something, and having a more fulfilling and rewarding life, and that is better than an empty life, which many people have.  You would also be a prominent person, being held in high esteem, and this is true even if have had a troubled past.  

If you can find a way to produce more money from whatever you choose, then do so, and put that money back into your project, whatever it may be.  

If you decide to take your hoarded wealth and live off it in idleness and pleasure for the rest of your life, chances are you will be destroyed by it, and so will your children.  A spoiled person will end up being destroyed.

Should you decide to use your excess wealth for a constructive purpose, one that will benefit your community, your state, and/or your country, you will not only help these, you will also help yourself.   

Since your community and country helped you, or your ancestor, obtain this wealth, and protected you from anyone else from taking it, you should give something back to the community/country, especially now, in it’s time of need.

I will end this essay with a quote the President John F. Kennedy gave at his inaugural:  “Ask not what your country can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your country!”

Alastair Browne

Rebuilding the Infrastructure, One Town at a Time

First Scenario

In Smithville, Nebraska, (not a real place) on the Missouri River, there is the problem of an old bridge.  It handles heavy traffic daily, but engineers have found that is cannot last much longer.  The bridge needs to be replaced.  It is vital that there is a replacement, because the livelihoods of the entire town, bringing goods in and out of Smithville, depends on that bridge.  

The town has petitioned that Nebraska state government to provide the funds to replace it.  The problem is, because of the constant deficits, the state government can no longer afford to provide funding for projects such as this;  and don’t even think of going to Washington.  That plea will be buried under paperwork, and the federal government won’t even think about replacing it.  They are too preoccupied with other projects on the list, so their plea came too late.  The town of Smithville is desperate for a new bridge, but there is no funding.  The old bridge is still in use, but is an accident waiting to happen.

Meanwhile, a millionaire’s son’s father has just died, thereby inheriting a huge sum of two hundred million dollars.  The son has live a secluded and sheltered life, does not know the townspeople of Smithville all that well, and has become sort of a recluse.  His grandfather ran an airline, but that was bought up by a completing company when his father ran it, so the family was left with the money.  Problem for the son is, he has a college degree in the Liberal Arts, is intelligent, but inexperienced, and he doesn’t know what to do with the money.  He is tempted to move out to California and live a lifestyle of parties and women, but somehow, he knows that it would destroy him.  

He sees that the town needs a new bridge, and he starts to think.  If the state or federal government can’t pay for it, perhaps he could move in?!  He goes down to city hall for a talk with the mayor and the city council…

Second Scenario

The place is New York City.  A railroad starting from New York, extending out across the country is in shambles.  The track supports mostly freight;  food and goods flowing into New York from the rest of the country.  Not only is the track in tough shape, but there are bridges that haven’t been replaced for almost a century.  The railroad is needed and it still used, by accidents do happen somewhere along the way, and the bridges are in danger of collapse.

Again, the neither the state nor federal government can afford to rebuild, especially a project as massive as this.

New York is full of millionaires;  not only businessmen, but actors, theater owners, retirees, all sorts.  Suppose they are called to city hall to contribute, and get money out of their offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland.

These are two examples of what can be done if the one percent is willing to help rebuild what the United States desperately needs, a new infrastructure.  

There is the surplus wealth, wealth that these people would never spend, or even touch, not money that is reinvested in business to make it grow.

The U.S., supposedly, has over $1.1 trillion in offshore accounts, money that the owners sneak out of the country into these tax havens to prevent paying taxes on it.  Meanwhile, the money accrue very little interest, literally around 0.01%.  It just sits in a vault, doing nothing, helping nothing or no one, not even those who own it.  If it is invested by the banks, the money helps the country that it is in, not the U.S.

What the one percenters can do is to take this money and start projects that would help American society.  This does not mean giving out money to anyone who has his hand out.  If one gives money to street beggars, there is a good chance that they would use it to be alcohol or drugs, or spend it foolishly on some other pleasure.  

Investing the projects means helping society as a whole, or, as illustrated in the first scenario, helping the local society in which one lives, such as building a new bridge to replace one that is falling apart, or help pave new roads, replace and upgrade a sewer system, a water distribution system (pipes, water filtration and purification plants), or the upgrading of a plant processing of solid wastes.

One might ask, why should he?  First, I would like to state that I am one of those people who believes that nobody owes anybody anything.  One must know that the world does not owe him a living, even if that person has had a hard life.  If one makes a billion dollars, honorably, it is his money and that person is free to do what he wants with it.

However, if one does have excess wealth that he is never going to use, I do feel that that person should at least help the society in his own locality;  i.e. Charity begins at home.  The reason being is because that society, in a way, has supported him, in providing a good place to live in the form of a safe environment, with good local police and fire departments, a good infrastructure (roads and bridges) which that person used in order to move his goods, and a good social position within his community.  That said, I feel that the prosperous individual, when his community is in great need of something and cannot be provided by the local, state, or federal government, that person should step in and help to provide that need with his excess wealth.  Should he do so, like build a bridge, repair roads, repair and upgrade a water and sewer system, that person will be in better standing with his community.

In the process of building, a lot of jobs will be created, even if only on a temporary basis.

For the son from the fictitious town of Smithville, paying for a new bridge when the government can’t afford to will no doubt bring him a lot of attention from the town, in a good way.  He would be invited to parties and functions, get interviewed in the local newspaper, and may even be asked to give a speech or two.  His reputation will then spread statewide, perhaps even receive national attention.

The son would have the privilege of naming that bridge.  He could name it after himself, a member of his family, his town, the street the bridge is on, or whatever.  

The son would be in good standing, and possibly invest more of his money in other municipal projects that the town badly needs, such as fixing the town’s streets, or upgrading the water distribution system, for examples.

His one problem would be his affordability on fixing the entire town, a burden he should not have to have if it requires on spending beyond his ability to pay.  He should either have a big moneymaking venture, or make investments so that more money would be coming in, so as to be able to provide for the town’s needs.  Obviously, his paying for the replacement of a new bridge and/or roads and water systems would be a temporary basis.  From that point on, the town itself would have to maintain these systems. 

One pitfall in all this;  whoever would be the benefactor would have to be on the lookout for scoundrels pulling scams on that person to take his money.  The benefactor has to be in the right place, perhaps going to City Hall, where he can see city officials to oversee his investments.

New York may run a little different since it is a city.  Here, as in any city, many wealthy men and women will have to pool their resources, each individual or group of individuals deciding to choose on project.  I put an example of railroad bridges, and there are railroad bridges that badly need to be replaced in the New York - New Jersey area, but this is just a fraction of what needs to be upgraded.

There are streets with potholes and other signs of deterioration, the subway systems, the sewer systems, the water supply, the electric grid (money can be made here), and just about everything else one can imagine in municipal systems.

If there are enough wealthy people in New York, and I’m sure there are, the needed projects can be listed with each individual choosing one for them to help upgrade.  Divide the work, share the load, anyway you want to state it.  Jobs will be created, although only temporarily, but those hired without skills will have on the job training, acquiring experience for employment in similar jobs in the future.

I have covered a small town and a big city.  There are companies with facilities accessible by roads that are deteriorating.  Here, the company/corporation/factory may have to take on the task and improving these roads, and their connections, themselves, for easier access;  shipping goods in and out of their locations.

The hardest part are the highways, be they states, U.S., or Interstate, along with long distance railroads.  This can be a problem because fixing even a mile of some of these highways can amount to over a million dollars.

On a state by state basis, it is estimated by the FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) that for the repairs and maintenance of highways and roads, the average need for each state is $844 million a year.  This is average; each state varies in difference costs.  For the entire U.S., this means a total of $43.03 billion is needed annually, to repair, then maintain our badly damaged roads and highways.

Obviously, there is not enough private money available to complete fix our highways, even if every wealthy person contributed all their surplus money in order to accomplish this task.

Should we concentrate on one state at a time, there may be private money to fix the highways, bridges, and railways completely in some individual states.  Like anything else, the responsibility to maintain these highways, as with the rest of the infrastructure, falls with the local, state, and federal governments.

In other states, private money can partially pay for the upgrading of this roads and highways.  From here on, the remaining cost will have to be left up to the taxpayer/government to raise the money, through higher gasoline taxes, for example.  Other ways include cutting wasteful spending and through the traditional tax funding by the respective governments.

The big catalyst here would be different philanthropists starting out in donating what money they can, starting with local roads, bridges and railways.  Once that is initiated, governments can start to fill in, at a cost much lower than originally anticipated had it not been for the help of the contributing wealthy.

It is the philanthropists that can ignite the movement to repair our infrastructure, and create jobs for the millions of otherwise unemployed people.

Alastair Browne