The Giving Pledge

A couple months ago, I discovered The Giving Pledge and Warren Buffet's original letter in which he pledged to commit to giving away more than 99% of his wealth during his lifetime or by his death.

"In a comparative sense, though many individuals give more to others every day....In contrast, my family and I will give up nothing we need or want by fulfilling this 99% pledge. Moreover, this pledge does not leave  me contributing the most precious asset, which is time....
Some material things make my life more enjoyable; many, however, would not. I like having an expensive plane, but owning a half-dozen homes would be a burden. Too often, a vast collection of possesions ends up possessing its owner. The asset I most value, aside from health, is interesting, diverse, and long-standing friends."

I'll stop here or else I'll find myself paraphrasing his entire letter. (Please read as his words continue to move me every single time.)

Today, I came upon an article on mint.com (my favorite money manager back when I used to manage my money. -_- Now I spend like I'll die tomorrow. Kind of.) titled "The Giving Pledge and Its Potential Impact".

What's changed in the past couple months?

40 more billionaires have signed on to this pledge.

I've never wanted to become a billionaire by any means. (I don't believe in a person having so much money while others are barely making $20 a day or some ridiculous discrepancy like that. And I know socialism can never work in practice but friends know I harbor some socialist ideas. That and my love for Che Guevara and Cuban cinema and history. I digress again...) My drive has never been about making a lot of money. Mainly because I naively believe that financially I will  be stable, secure, comfortable in the future and if not, I can bounce back to that position. Again- naive. I know.
But is this not awe-inspiring?

Money IS important and Money CAN be great.
Hopefully, even if you skim over what I wrote, you will at least look at the article. Thanks.