Hacker News Reader

This speech was given to Princeton undergraduates -- 1150 of the most fortunate and well supported people in the world. He's urging them to be self aware of their immense good fortune, and to be generous and grateful rather than selfish and envious.

Princeton is the epitome of a capitalistic school. Very few students will become socialists. Having more Rockefellers and Carnegies (who have both given to the university) is not a bad thing for this world.

View on HN

Weren't they also both robber barons who used philanthropy to retroactively clear their names after they've made their billions (similar to the later Bill Gates, but even less scrupulous)?

Actually, they arguably weren't. In his Rockefeller biography Titan, Ron Chernow notes that Rockefeller gave to charity from his earliest days of income, well before it was clear that he would become exceptionally wealthy.

>Princeton is the epitome of a capitalistic school.

Please explain this. I know little about Princeton.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com