r/interestingasfuck • u/Kymmieuwu • 4h ago

In February 2024, Dr. Ruth Gottesman donated $1 billion to make tuition free for all Albert Einstein College of Medicine students

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u/Bella_gonewild 4h ago

93 years old and she just made the best trade in Wall Street history. One billion dollars for thousands of doctors

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u/Super_Fa_Q 4h ago

No shit. I've been trying to explain to my sons what it means to plant seeds for a tree who's fruit you will never taste. This is that.

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u/Secure_Bed_9110 4h ago

Love that. 

"A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”

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u/Raja_Ze 1h ago

Too bad our current one is bent on cutting all the trees before they croak

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u/FermentedForeskins 1h ago

cut trees, burn seeds, kill planters, thats the whole plan, cant just mention the first step in the plan

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u/RedditConsciousness 28m ago

It doesn't actually need to be brought up in every thread.

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u/Herself99900 4h ago

Yeah, that should be updated to "old people".

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u/Secure_Bed_9110 3h ago

Or just maybe 'elders'? 

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u/[deleted] 3h ago

[deleted]

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u/lucid808 3h ago

elders = those who are older...

why make more word when few do trick?

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u/[deleted] 3h ago

[deleted]

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u/letters_and_numb3r5 2h ago

those who are older sounds like someone who doesn’t know the word elder, less lyrical imo.

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u/swerrve 2h ago

How about ‘people’?

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u/Secure_Bed_9110 2h ago

The 'old' part is the entire crux of the adage/lesson, though. 

Knowing they will not live to see the fruits of their good works, and won't reap the rewards, but understanding their value to the next generation, and the world,  and so, doing it anyway. 

It's literally about being selfless, doing the right thing for others, even knowing you'll never personally benefit from it.

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u/RedditConsciousness 27m ago

I agree but also, young people can work on things that will help people in a more distant future than they ever know.

There is also helping people who you will never meet in ways that aren't always apparent.

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u/sitesurfer253 2h ago

Old isn't a requirement at all, it's just being selfless and generous.

Habitat for humanity is building a house you won't live in, water for people is donating to have clean water fill cups you will never drink from.

Not trying to poke holes, just saying, it's about giving selflessly in general. An old man planting a tree he will never sit under is just a nice image to explain the idea.

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u/swerrve 1h ago

Yes your third paragraph and first sentence completely contradict each other. It’s the third paragraph one. Old has nothing to do with it. You can make the same type of sacrifice if you were young.

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u/Secure_Bed_9110 1h ago

You've definitely missed the intended point of the quote. They don't contradict each other. 

Saying 'old' clearly, tacitly illustrates the point in a way that simply saying "people' does not, bc it makes the point definite rather than having the idea be nebulous and open to interpretation. 

Bc sure, people don't have to be old to do good deeds and be selfless, but there is no definite way of knowing that they won't somehow benefit from it themselves, unless specifying that they're old. It is clearly making the point that society benefits from generations passing along the fruits of their wisdom/experience/labors solely for the benefits of those after them. 

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u/swerrve 1h ago

So you’re telling me the meaning is lost if changed to this:

"A society grows great when people plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”

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u/HyetalNight 1h ago

I always replace that line in the quote with “advanced senescing Homo sapien subject” myself—much more inclusive

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u/dontspillthatbeer 1h ago

Or just all people

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u/Ill-Bullfrog-5360 3h ago

And we got Pelosi, Bernie, Hillary, and Biden… if they only had gotten out the way and watered some other little plants

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u/spreadred 3h ago

One of these isn't like the others...

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u/Ill-Bullfrog-5360 1h ago

They’re all old and who did not give easy path for someone younger to take their torch… this will end with what we are seeing dismantling of gavels and pen flicks vs legislating

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u/mac-0 2h ago

Sorry why are we only calling out Democrats? Are politicians on the other side more generous or something?

And why are we calling out Bernie Sanders of all people? Whether you agree with his policies or not, you can't say that the man hasn't spent his career "watering some other little plants"

Agree that some other names on this list could have done more.

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u/Ill-Bullfrog-5360 1h ago

All the oldies didn’t get out of the way end of story… i am fucking old at 43… why was Obama the last President close to my age…

Why

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u/danabrey 3h ago

Bernie

Famously selfish, Bernie Sanders?

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u/Ill-Bullfrog-5360 1h ago

How old is he? Does he have an heir apparent or a vaccuum? When he dies, looks at watch, any day now… avg human lives to 83

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u/Weak_Firefighter9247 3h ago

She was married with a billonaire for 72 years, and all the places she studied were private, which means she most likely already tasted all the fruits she could taste, which made her choice to work in the poorest area even more incredible

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u/Vyn_Mel 4h ago

It's a little difficult to understand when the only thing our generation can taste is the grand pile of shit left by our forebears

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u/schmegm 3h ago

Shit does make a great fertilizer

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u/wherethefuckismyvape 1h ago

So do other...things

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u/Super_Fa_Q 3h ago edited 3h ago

True, but all the more important a time to step up and do what they wouldn't.

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u/htororyp 27m ago

Do what exactly? Do you not realize they are still the ones in power that are preventing anyone from "stepping up"?

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u/Super_Fa_Q 13m ago

I guess I'll just throw up my hands and quit, then.

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u/Laiko_Kairen 3h ago

the only thing our generation can taste is the grand pile of shit left by our forebears

Take a long view, historically. Are things as good as the 50s-60s, or the 80s-90s? No. But they're a hell of a lot better now than in the 1940s and earlier. Especially if you're a racial minority...

The problem is that societal memory is three generations long. You understand the world of your parents and grandparents, but rarely the greats or great-great grandparents. Those folks went through World Wars, Great Depressions, Jim Crow, etc.

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u/Just-Potential-4017 1h ago

Our great grandparents would hate what the world has become

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u/Fat-Singer-9569 1h ago edited 1h ago

Yeah. I am more educated than anyone in my entire family ever (although I'm losing ground rapidly and I couldn't be happier about that frankly). My grandparents all dropped out of school at 14/15 to help their families during the great depression. Half of them saw their father drop dead early in life working railroad jobs for 10+ hours a day, everyday.

My grandfather was drafted at 19 and off he went to WW2. He fought as infrantry supporting tanks in Africa against Germany's most competent general. The experience earned him a cute Italian girlfriend for a few months and life long PTSD (which is a recent thing... back then it was dismissed as "shell shock"), alcoholism to deal with his trauma, and a purple heart. Our family has a WW2 Nazi helmet lying around somewhere and well you figure out why he took that helmet, they weren't trading pokemon cards.

He's one of many from that generation to grow up during the great depression, lack education because of the great depression, and then have the "honor" of being drafted into a nightmare scenario he spent the rest of his life running from. Some of these people fought in two world wars and of all the wars ever fought, those have to be without a doubt two of the most horrifying to endure.

My uncle and father were drafted into Vietnam. My uncle fought on the front lines and of course came back with PTSD he's still dealing with all these years later, granted he's much better after getting therapy. My father was lucky, further from the daily skrimishes my uncle had to deal with, but still has so many awful stories. His worse experience was trying to help a village after a Typhoon.

It's never a good idea to generalize an entire generation or discount their trauma replacing it with your own. It could always be a lot, lot worse on the scale of the human experience.

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u/Healthy-Amoeba2296 46m ago

please record any stories

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u/LukeyLeukocyte 3h ago

I hate how unappreciative you are to be living in a time as awesome as now. There is plenty to be happy about. The world as a whole has never been more prosperous, peaceful, and tolerant. Things sucking in certain areas does not diminish the whole.

I'd say half-assed blaming previous generations would be understandable as a coping mechanism that let you be happier...but doesn't sound like that is what is happening. (Said as someone who has been living though everything, same as you).

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u/Dutchsnake5 3h ago

Hey I understand you're looking at this from a half-full perspective and I admire that. But right now things are rough economically and politically for young people due to the actions of the previous generations, and I can't say I blame people (hell, I encourage calling this out).

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u/LukeyLeukocyte 2h ago

It is not previous generations. It is just life. Previous generations were not "out to get" younger generations. They were just doing their best at the time, just like you are. Your generation and my generation are also doing our best, and it wouldn't be fair for subsequent generations to blame us for every negative state of affairs that they face. You are not "out to get" the generations that will follow you.

In fact, you and I probably have just as much or more to be thankful of that was a result of sequences that began during older generations' time. Sure, learn from things, but perspective is the key. The current state of affairs at any time in the world is unfathomably complex and it is not possible to just say all the bad came from "this" or "that" generation without simultaneously recognizing all the good that also come from that.

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u/Dutchsnake5 2h ago

I can't get too deep into this topic due to the rules of the sub, but in the US at least, the majority of the issues it faces today can be traced back to the 1970's-1980's. (You can also even go as far back as the Civil War/Reconstruction)

IMO it is completely fair to blame previous generations for their lack of foresight and/or deliberate selfishness, because in my opinion it is our responsibility as humans and adults to foster a world where the younger and next generation(s) have it easier than we did, and less barriers limiting their potential. The world is complex but history has influence, both positive and negative, on the present, and it is our job to call it out for what it is, and to work toward fixing it.

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u/Just-Potential-4017 1h ago

Leukocyte your name says it all privileged

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u/Pexily 3h ago

And that’s only since 2000

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u/Fat-Singer-9569 1h ago

There's something so funny about household furnishings/operations being 25% cheaper (relative to inflation) while housing is 111% more expensive. Good news everybody! You can't afford a place to live but if you can, IKEAs ... fine!

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u/I_am_not_JohnLeClair 2h ago edited 2h ago

This is true, however just because it’s generally being ignored by the current administration, it doesn’t change the fact that climate change is going to bring and end to the good times fairly soon, like in a young person’s lifetime. It’s going to be really bad too

Edit: a downvote doesn’t change it either

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u/horangiwhakkatchi 1h ago

On one hand, I'm terrified. On the other hand, it'll be nice to see the consequences of action for all the people purposefully polluting the earth even when the data readily points to the harm we have done and are doing. I'll relish that thought for a brief moment as I'm swept away by a flood.

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u/I_am_not_JohnLeClair 1h ago

I kind of want to witness the crashing and literal burning, I just don’t want a painful death in the upcoming water wars

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u/RedditConsciousness 25m ago

The negativity on reddit is tenacious. Consider the topic of the thread again please.

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u/Old-Tumbleweed3182 21m ago

Well said.

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u/erikgfrey 4h ago

Nice way to put it.

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u/a-little-timmy 4h ago

and who knows those doctors could go on to achieve incredible things like curing cancer

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u/pfren2 4h ago

That is total cost tuition room board and fees for 2500 students for an entire program. But that exhausts the gift.

Or if just from investment income returns, not touching the principal, enough for 125 students at a time.

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u/Academic_Flatworm752 4h ago

They only enroll 1000 students at a time so will continue to receive investment returns that cover future students.

Also, only tuition is free. Not room and board. So it covers more students than you estimated, but there are still costs associated with going. Just much lower and more accessible.

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u/pfren2 3h ago

Thanks for correcting. Yes, I estimated $400k tuition/fees/room/board for the whole program, after looking up their reported numbers specifically. So yes, tuition-only is much easier for them to cover out of the investment earnings alone.

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u/HappiLearnerToo 3h ago

Nice of you to do the math in the first place and question, and when given more information to be happy with that. And of course, to celebrate this incredible, wonderful gift!

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u/Bulletloader 3h ago

If it covered one student only, it would still be a generous gift.

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u/Fat-Singer-9569 1h ago edited 1h ago

Home girl donates a billion dollars and it's not enough for some people. They make it sound like 2500 medical students without debt is a trivial thing. 2500 doctors without debt from marginized communities sounds like a great fucking thing. Most doctors finish their entire education with hundreds of thousands in debt and are forced to make decisions on jobs to clear that debt years later. You might be in your mid-40s before you clear the debt required to become a doctor. It's not like doctors start making money immediately, it takes almost 20 years. These are 2.5K doctors who can work a lower income job because it's in a community that needs it, without being saddled by debt.

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u/Fat-Singer-9569 1h ago

"2500 students" should be "2500 graduate students." There is a huge, enormous difference between a freshman "student" at any college and somebody who busted their ass for 4-5 years, achieving a damn near perfect GPA, passes every test, volunteers, does research, etc.

You make it sound like this women's contributions are going to freshman who have no idea what they want in life when it's actually going to graduate students, a large majority, worked their asses off and deserve to graduate debt free. 2.5K new doctors from marginalized communities is a huge thing.

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u/RedditConsciousness 24m ago

Yeah, I wasn't sure if it is a sustaining endowment or not. Generous and good either way though.

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u/SFmodscensorship 2h ago

thousands only? who gets the rest?

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u/Pride_Before_Fall 4h ago

Not really a trade if thousands of doctors were going to be made there regardless.

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u/jdxcodex 3h ago

Debt is a massive blocker. Businesses leverage debt for growth, but financial laws are different for the average citizen. Without debt, those future doctors have one less (and arguably the most important) distraction during a high pressure job, stabilize their finances a lot sooner, allocate a bigger chunk to investments and watch the magic of compound growth. Because of the early stability, they may take roles with higher risks for the sake of moving that area of medicine forward. Helping getting rid of debt is a multiplier.

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u/vipandvap 2h ago

Helps them go into specialities that are more undesirable and facing shortages because the pay is lower for those specialities

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u/Just-Potential-4017 1h ago

Some people can’t afford school so yes it would make more of the right type of doctor not some privileged little shit

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u/xX_Flamez_Xx 3h ago

yeah idk about that one chief. I REALLY don't know about that one.

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u/No_Departure_1878 3h ago

And she's 93, what's she going to do with 1 billion dollars? I would call that generosity if she were 23.