Bill is definitely not a good person, but he does do a lot of good things. And I’m willing to temporarily forget about all the bad things while he’s dissing Elon and forking over his cash.
Gates at least seems determined to buy his salvation.
Got a real Rockefeller vibe to him now, don’t he?
Ah, those gilded age.
He’s been giving away his wealth for decades, and only got richer during this time.
Of course, but that’s more than most of the ruling class can say.
Credit where credit is due, and only where it’s due.
Hasn’t he mainly been “giving it away” to a Charity he himself controls?
Yep, and he’s using that charity money to get influence with research institutions and universities. Meanwhile he privately holds stock in big pharmaceutical and energy companies. Not sure if anyone has done the work to trace the money, but I’m sure his charitable donations end up benefiting those private investments.
So the money he would’ve otherwise paid in taxes went to a vehicle that buys him PR and benefits him financially through his other investments.
I know of an organization attached to a prestigious university that solely exists because at the end of some billionaire’s life, he decided he wanted to chuck some cash into a foundation to try to burnish his image.
But he was so morally corrupt that his version of helping others was to mandate that the foundation focus on “helping” people in developing countries find business opportunities.
Read: they assess how people and environments can be exploited for capitalism while focusing on telling stories about how that exploitation improved the quality of life for people there.
Most of the professors who work with the foundation are very wealthy from their non-academic pursuits.
It’s his Gates Foundation that manages the cash, uses it for investments and similar stuff to make more money, and then handle all of the separate donations towards projects and charities. When you have billions to donate you can’t just donate it around. Most charities can’t handle millions in money. Eventually it becomes a logistics game and you’ll have cash laying around.
It’s a good read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_Foundation
He at least learned the ‘right’ lesson from the famous robber barons like Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc: when you make a fortune by exploiting everyone you can then you should spend that fortune to whitewash your name for future generations.
That is the right lesson. Use that money to make people love and respect you, even though you’re a bastard, by building libraries, hospital wings, and other community projects.
“He abused his workers, but he cured cancer” kind of a toss up when it hits the history book.
Billionaires can never do a good thing while remaining a billionaire.
They can do good things, but it doesn’t make them overall a good person.
I don’t think it’s possible to amass $1 billion in worth and not be a bad human.
I…think you misread me? I said a billionaire cannot do a good thing while remaining a billionaire?
They didn’t misread you; they just didn’t agree with you
Oh cool, we’re all having problems reading.
At least one of us, yeah
Cool captain capitalism defender guy
They can’t still do a good thing.
Correct, they can’t.
Why not spend a couple of those billions and put a bounty on Musks head? America is a lawless hellhole already, so some good and put your money where your mouth is.
I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes, alleged to be from A. Carnegie:
“The man who dies rich, dies disgraced.”
I detested the Microsoft Bill (I’m in tech) but the post-M$ Bill seems to have reformed quite a bit. I have to admire someone who gives away all their $ (whatever the route - directly or through a foundation) to try to solve some of humanity’s problems. Of course MAGA/Qanon portraying him as a villain doesn’t hurt his image either, it pretty much guarantees that there must be something good about him.
Don’t be fooled. His foundation does a lot of real charity but it is still an entity that is under his control and he uses it to launder his reputation while supporting the systems that have allowed him to leverage his wealth for political power. Because of him, the covid vaccine was used as yet another vehicle for funneling wealth into the hands of the plutocrats even though it was mostly public funds that created it.
vaccine
he made sure the poorer nations cant develop thier own vaccines , and it must be bought from USa.
old billy has been visited by a ghost
The only good billionaire is a dead one.
If Bill sheds all his excess wealth he can be a human being with the rest of us.
He sheds more than anyone else. He’d be much higher on the richest-people list otherwise.
So far, he’s given over 60 billion to the Gates Foundation, which has given away over 100 billion (the rest of the money comes from Warren Buffet and endowment growth).
It’s designed to spend to zero (over 200 billion dollars) by 2045 so it doesn’t become a self-sustaining wealth generator for staff like other endowments have.
The idea is that the harm caused by him amassing such excess caused more harm than any good he can do through philanthropy.
And the crazy part of this philanthropy is that there’s no guarantee to anything. These oligarchs live like kings amongst men and we can see ourselves lucky to be in the light of their philanthropic sun.
I mean yes thank you Bill Gates for not being such a dipshit like Elon, but I also think that this kind of power should not be in the hands of individuals ever.
Cause as you said: the harm they caused (actively or passively by f.e. not paying taxes in countries outside the US and therefore stealing money from governments and people) can never be fixed by any philanthropy.
You just don’t get that kind of rich without being an asshole along the way.
Gates also announced that his Gates Foundation will cease operations in 2045, sooner than previously planned.
Didn’t he just get divorced? Wonder if this has something to do with that.
is this arguing over who killed the poorest children?
Good move by Bill Gates.
Cruelty is a feature not a bug.
“Elon Musk is a patriot working to fulfill President Trump’s mission to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse,” Harrison Fields, a spokesperson for DOGE, said in a statement. "Backbenchers should celebrate the selfless efforts of America’s most innovative entrepreneur, who is dedicating time to support American taxpayers and hold Washington accountable to the people of this great nation.”
Wtf. only the government should be allowed to criticize the government, because everybody else is a backbencher. What are these people, 12 year olds playing Fortnite? Just wow.
