PRI Weekly Briefing: Microsoft Urged by Shareholders to Cease Making Charitable Contributions

Dear Colleague,
 
As regular readers of the Weekly Briefing know, the myth of overpopulation
is as old as civilization itself. Human genius and ingenuity have
consistently outpaced population growth.
 
The tragedy of Bill Gates' support of abortion and population control is
that technology leads to development. Unfortunately, the developing world
will grow old before it develops because of population control. Gates, in
supporting population control, is out of step with other great minds who
have viewed people as humanity's greatest resource.
 
You will recall that a similar shareholder proposal was made before Mr.
Warren Buffett and 10,000 Berkshire-Hathaway shareholders last year in
Omaha (see PRI Weekly Briefing on May 6, 2002, Volume 4/ Number 10). Mr.
Buffett has since discontinued corporate charitable contributions.
 
Mr. Gates, we urge you to follow suit.
 
NOTE: If you would like to listen to the presentation of the resolution,
go to www.microsoft.com.  Scroll down the left hand side of the page, and
then click on the "investor relations section" to get to the live link.
 
 
PRI Weekly Briefing
11 November 2003
Vol. 5 / No. 35


Gates, Microsoft Urged by Shareholders
to Cease Making Charitable Contributions
 
Resolution: Stop Contributing to Abortion and Other Objectionable Causes
 
 
At 8:00 AM pacific (11 AM eastern) today, Population Research Institute
(PRI) will present the following resolution at the annual Microsoft
Shareholder's meeting.  This resolution urges Microsoft to refrain from
making direct charitable contributions.
 
"Thomas Jefferson once wrote, 'To compel a man to furnish contributions of
money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and
tyrannical.' Choice is a popular word in our culture.  Nobel prize winning
economist and long time critic of corporate charitable contributions,
Milton Friedman, writes about the importance of choice in his book, "Free
to Choose." By making charitable contributions at the corporate level, we
have usurped the right and duty of individuals to support their favorite
charities. We may, also, be forcing thousands of people to finance causes
they may disagree with on a most profound level. For example, abortion
rights advocates often use the word choice, without mentioning what the
choice is all about, that is, abortion. Today there are a number of
prominent charities advocating for abortion and, in at least one case,
Planned Parenthood, actually performing abortions. Other charities,
oftentimes involved in research for cures of disease, may advocate cloning
or the destruction of human embryos for research purposes. These may be
more controversial examples, but illustrate the point. Today, many
charities are involved in activities that are divisive and not universally
supported. Microsoft employees and shareholders represent a broad range of
interests. It is truly impossible to be sensitive to the moral, religious
and cultural beliefs of so many people. Rather than compel our
shareholders to support potentially controversial charitable groups, we
should refrain from giving their money away for them. Let each person
choose. The importance of individual choice is perhaps exceeded only by
the importance of the life of each individual."



__________
Join with Population Research Institute as we work to make the world safe
for families and babies.  Make your tax-deductible donation at our secure
Website at https://pop.org/donate.cfm

__________
Steve Mosher is the president of Population Research Institute, a
non-profit organization dedicated to debunking the myth that the world is
overpopulated.

__________
© 2003 Population Research Institute.
Permission to reprint granted. Redistribute widely. Credit required.

To subscribe to the Weekly Briefing, send an email to: Mail to:
JOIN-PRI@Pluto.Sparklist.com.

__________
The Population Research Institute is dedicated to ending human rights
abuses committed in the name of "family planning," and to ending
counter-productive social and economic paradigms premised on the myth of
"overpopulation."


PRI
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Phone: (540) 622-5240 Fax: (540) 622-2728
Email: scott@pop.org
Media Contact: Scott Weinberg (540) 622-5240, ext. 209