Bill and Melinda Gates announce one of the biggest charitable donations in history

[spring-peeper]

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Melinda claimed irreconcilable incompatibility but Bill thinks if she just updates her drivers or waits for the next service patch they can make it through.

As the owner of a windows machine I have to say "Computer says "nawwww.""

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

Melinda claimed irreconcilable incompatibility

Just to point out that this is actually what they have to legally claim to obtain a divorce in the state they are doing this in (washington I believe)

But that was a good joke

 

[elbows]

 

[Petcha]

It would be a shame if this distracted from the work the Gates foundation does. Because it really is very very good.

I've also wondered in the past whether the kids will contest the will one day, which is only giving them a measly $10m dollars with the rest going to charity.

 

[elbows]

It would be a shame if this distracted from the work the Gates foundation does. Because it really is very very good.

I've also wondered in the past whether the kids will contest the will one day, which is only giving them a measly $10m dollars with the rest going to charity.

It should be subject to more scrutiny and it is a huge mistake to simply view it as a force for good.

The media loves the Gates Foundation. These experts are more skeptical.

The organization is now one of the single biggest funders of global health, with little oversight or accountability.

www.vox.com

Is the Gates Foundation Out of Control? - Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation raises serious questions about accountability and the balancing of public and private interests.

nonprofitquarterly.org

 

[Petcha]

It should be subject to more scrutiny and it is a huge mistake to simply view it as a force for good.

The media loves the Gates Foundation. These experts are more skeptical.

The organization is now one of the single biggest funders of global health, with little oversight or accountability.

www.vox.com

Is the Gates Foundation Out of Control? - Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation raises serious questions about accountability and the balancing of public and private interests.

nonprofitquarterly.org

It's still doing more good than most governments around the world. And certainly any other silicon valley billionaires.

 

[elbows]

It's still doing more good than most governments around the world. And certainly any other silicon valley billionaires.

Part of the reason it exists is to reduce billionaires tax bills, so it is actually taking money away from governments.

Meanwhile another article about the recent revelations about his sexual conduct:

Microsoft board investigated Bill Gates over an alleged affair with employee, report says

Bill Gates's 2020 resignation from Microsoft's board of directors came after the board hired a law firm to investigate a romantic relationship he had with a Microsoft employee, according to new reporting from the Wall Street Journal.

edition.cnn.com

 

[Petcha]

Part of the reason it exists is to reduce billionaires tax bills, so it is actually taking money away from governments.

Meanwhile another article about the recent revelations about his sexual conduct:

Microsoft board investigated Bill Gates over an alleged affair with employee, report says

Bill Gates's 2020 resignation from Microsoft's board of directors came after the board hired a law firm to investigate a romantic relationship he had with a Microsoft employee, according to new reporting from the Wall Street Journal.

edition.cnn.com

I totally disagree with your first point. As for your second, as I say, I hope such tabloid bollocks don't distract from the work of the Foundation. I honestly don't give a shit if he's been playing away from home, I care about the billions he's pumping into healthcare around the world. Both of them, from what I can tell, are passionate about their work helping those less fortunate. Why is the focus not on such fuckwits such as Jeff Bezos who has shown no inclination to share his massive wealth?

 

[elbows]

I totally disagree with your first point. As for your second, as I say, I hope such tabloid bollocks don't distract from the work of the Foundation. I honestly don't give a shit if he's been playing away from home, I care about the billions he's pumping into healthcare around the world. Both of them, from what I can tell, are passionate about their work helping those less fortunate. Why is the focus not on such fuckwits such as Jeff Bezos who has shown no inclination to share his massive wealth?

Your ignorance on the reasons for the foundations existence and ability to turn a blind eye to deeply problematic aspects is disappointing but not terribly surprising.

The influence of this foundation on matters of global health is a cause for much concern. Do not be fooled by the thick veneer of credibility the foundation has carefully constructed over the years. Finding examples of good projects it has enabled does not negate this at all.

 

[Petcha]

Your ignorance on the reasons for the foundations existence and ability to turn a blind eye to deeply problematic aspects is disappointing but not terribly surprising.

The influence of this foundation on matters of global health is a cause for much concern. Do not be fooled by the thick veneer of credibility the foundation has carefully constructed over the years. Finding examples of good projects it has enabled does not negate this at all.

Where would you prefer he channeled his money?

 

[Lord Camomile]

It's still doing more good than most governments around the world. And certainly any other silicon valley billionaires.

Even if true (not disputing either way, simply don't know), that's not a reason to not subject it to scrutiny too.

We should always be aiming higher than "not as bad as the worst"

Why is the focus not on such fuckwits such as Jeff Bezos who has shown no inclination to share his massive wealth?

To be fair, I feel like Bezos has had his fair share of criticism and scrutiny? There's at least two threads dedicated entirely to not using Amazon!

 

[elbows]

Where would you prefer he channeled his money?

When it comes to preference I'd prefer people were not allowed to accrue that much money, and that those who have that much already have it taken off them rather than leaving them to choose where it goes.

Exhibit A:

Bill Gates Promised to Give Away His Wealth. Well, That Was BS

The so-called Giving Pledge made it seem like billionaires were philanthropists rather than fatcats.

www.inc.com

A decade ago, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett launched the Giving Pledge, which they explain as "a commitment by the world's wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to giving back."

According to the official website, some 210 billionaires and mega-millionaires have made the so-called pledge. Unfortunately, many of those billionaires are giving to fake charities that enrich themselves and all of them have helped structure the economy so that they accumulate wealth faster than they can possible give it away.

Bill Gates is a case in point. When he made the pledge in 2010, his net worth was $53 billion. Ten years later, his net worth is $115 billion. Bill Gates is 64 years old, so at this rate, he'll be worth $250 billion or more by the time he's supposed to have given away at least half his wealth.

Same thing with Warren Buffett, only much worse. In 2010, his net worth was $39 billion; today, his net worth is $82 billion. Buffett is 90 years old, so if he's planning on giving away at least half his wealth, he'd damn better well get crackin'!

 

[Petcha]

Even if true (not disputing either way, simply don't know), that's not a reason to not subject it to scrutiny too.

We should always be aiming higher than "not as bad as the worst"



To be fair, I feel like Bezos has had his fair share of criticism and scrutiny? There's at least two threads dedicated entirely to not using Amazon!

Of course it should be scrutinised. My only point was that the right wing press who have always had it in for him are going to jump on this and it could potentially impact on the work the Foundation does. And it's not just him. They have thousands of people working in some pretty difficult places. Could they do better? I don't know, like you. But at least it's better than any of his peers.

 

[elbows]

The emperors new philantho-pants. Viewing the criticisms as being the right-wing vs progressives is part of the smokescreen.

 

[Petcha]

When it comes to preference I'd prefer people were not allowed to accrue that much money, and that those who have that much already have it taken off them rather than leaving them to choose where it goes.

Exhibit A:

Bill Gates Promised to Give Away His Wealth. Well, That Was BS

The so-called Giving Pledge made it seem like billionaires were philanthropists rather than fatcats.

www.inc.com

This is your source?

 

[elbows]

This is your source?

I am more than prepared to make use of dubious sources when the points they make are of some relevance. In this case I consider it quite valid to draw attention to sources that point out the way that billionaires pledges to give up a big chunk of their wealth has not panned out at all as originally claimed. Its actually a way for them to hang onto their wealth and status and improve their image. Its a way to justify the status quo, the systems that enable that level of wealth concentration to continue.

Anyway I tire of this odious sucking up to the myth of the benevolent billionaires.

 

[Petcha]

I am more than prepared to make use of dubious sources when the points they make are of some relevance.

Anyway I tire of this odious sucking up to the myth of the benevolent billionaires.

Wow. So if the 'dubious source' fits your narrative then it's all good to go?

 

[elbows]

Wow. So if the 'dubious source' fits your narrative then it's all good to go?

I am interested in the substance of what is said, and I note that you dont seem interested in the details I quoted. I could start judging the motivations of the publication that said it, but thats a seperate issue to whether what they said was true. Perhaps I could easily find sources more to your liking that point out much the same thing in terms of the increasing wealth of Gates etc, but I'm not convinced you'd then be willing to engage with the point.

 

[elbows]

Plus its hardly surprising that I might have to resort to sources that dont have progressive values, when dealing with aspects of an organisation that progressive media is more likely to gush over than scrutinise.

Anyway here is another source with similar criticisms:

Billionaire philanthropy is a PR scam, wealth tax proponent argues

Weighing in on a debate in the Washington state legislature over a proposal to create the nation's first state wealth tax, Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price argues that billionaire philanthropy is "[o]ne of capitalism's biggest PR scams...."

philanthropynewsdigest.org

According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, giving by the fifty biggest donors in the United States totaled $24.7 billion in 2020 — up from $15.8 billion in 2019 — with Jeff Bezos' $10.15 billion in giving topping the list. But with the net worth of the billionaire class soaring during the pandemic, many billionaires are facing increased scrutiny and criticism for giving a relatively small percentage of their wealth to charity. Only ten billionaires on the 2020 Forbes 400 list have given more than 20 percent of their wealth over their lifetime, and billionaires such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett continue to see their net worth grow by leaps and bounds even as they've pledged to give half of their wealth to philanthropic causes.

Critics of the proposal argue that it is punitive and that "billionaires don't need to pay taxes because they already donate." But as Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price tells MarketWatch, "In reality, the amount [billionaires] donate is a fraction of what they would pay if their tax rates were in line with the working class."

"The average billionaire donates 1 percent of their fortune to charity yearly — less than non-billionaires. But when you donate $200 you don't get glowing articles, a hospital named after you, and a massive tax write off."

"I think billionaires donate for various reasons," he muses, "but it's clear that giving away the equivalent of what's in their couch cushions helps them avoid having to face steeper bills that would actually make a difference in solving systemic problems." Price added that he doesn't think "the world needs another billionaire philanthropist, because we've been relying on billionaire philanthropists for so long, and I don't really think that's working out very well for us."

It is unreasonable to expect me to find such quotes without some of them inevitably involving CEOs and the business press.

 

[elbows]

Another reason I dont like to give too much consideration to the implications of reputation damage to institutions when some of their people turn out to have been doing bad things on the sex front is that time and time again we have seen such concerns used by the organisations as motivation to cover stuff up.

 

[MickiQ]

No matter how dodgy or otherwise his motivations may have been in setting it up, it seems to me that the Gates Foundation has been more of a force for good than not in the world. And even if he is purely motivated by cutting his tax bill, bear in mind that the Govt which would have received by far the lion's share of those taxes certainly wouldn't have spent any of it on improving health in the third world (unless you count dropping bombs on them as healthy)

 

[elbows]

An understandable stance, but not one I share. Individual programmes they are involved with do good, but they are still involved with enabling a system of health inequality.

 

[elbows]

I can find specifics if people want, but a lot of them go back many years and I dont have time to re-read this thread to see whats already been covered in the past. Here are just a few examples though.

2008:

The head of the World Health Organization's global malaria program has complained that the growing dominance of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in the field of malaria research could stifle a diversity of views among scientists and curtail the world health agency's policymaking function, the New York Times reports.

In a memo to WHO director general Margaret Chan, Dr. Arata Kochi said that while the Gates Foundation's support is crucial to the fight against malaria, it could have "far reaching, largely unintended consequences." Calling the foundation's decision-making "a closed internal process, and as far as can be seen accountable to none other than itself," Kochi argued that the foundation's determination to have its favored research used to guide WHO's recommendations "could have implicitly dangerous consequences on the policymaking process in world health."

Gates Foundation Criticized as Too Influential in Malaria Research

In a memo to WHO director general Margaret Chan, Dr. Arata Kochi said that while the foundation's support is crucial to the fight against malaria, it could have "far reaching, largely unintended consequences"....

philanthropynewsdigest.org

2016:

Far from a “neutral charitable strategy”, the Gates Foundation is about benefiting big business, especially in agriculture and health, through its “ideological commitment to promote neoliberal economic policies and corporate globalisation,” according to the report published by the campaign group Global Justice Now. Its influence is “dangerously skewing” aid priorities, the group says.

Bill Gates' foundation has been accused of 'dangerously skewing' aid priorities

Controversial new report calls for Bill Gates' philanthropic Foundation to undergo an international investigation

www.independent.co.uk

 

[elbows]

I also expect that if I had time and access to information that would enable me to comprehensively view their behaviour in this pandemic, I would find plenty to complain about.

I dont have time for that, but I can point out the most obvious example and note the fact that they were forced into a u-turn on this issue:

Mark Suzman, CEO at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced Thursday that the foundation is supportive of temporarily lifting coronavirus vaccine patent protections.

“No barriers should stand in the way of equitable access to vaccines, including intellectual property, which is why we are supportive of a narrow waiver during the pandemic,” he wrote in a statement, which was an about-face for the world’s largest private foundation.

The announcement follows criticism that Bill Gates — the billionaire philanthropist co-founder of the foundation, which is behind much of the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic — was on the wrong side of history in this debate.

Gates opposed waiving some provisions of the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS. A waiver would allow member nations to stop enforcing a set of COVID-19-related patents for the duration of the pandemic so that low- and middle-income countries can produce or import generic versions of vaccines.

Gates met with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai last week to make the case for protecting these patents, but Tai on Wednesday went against his recommendation when she announced that President Joe Biden’s administration would support waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines.

Gates Foundation reverses course on COVID-19 vaccine patents

Mark Suzman, CEO at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announces the foundation supports temporarily lifting coronavirus vaccine patent protections, following criticism that Bill Gates was on the wrong side of history in the debate.

www.devex.com

Fair to say I will not be joining in with a clap for lobbyists with shit agendas.

 

[elbows]

Now I find myself putting out an urgent appeal to help me find a really old charity record parody. I expect its from decades ago but I only remember some of the lyrics along the lines of "theres a choice we're never given, to run our own lives, without it your better day is just a better lie". And the singing was deliberately terrible. Any ideas?

 

[belboid]

Now I find myself putting out an urgent appeal to help me find a really old charity record parody. I expect its from decades ago but I only remember some of the lyrics along the lines of "theres a choice we're never given, to run our own lives, without it your better day is just a better lie". And the singing was deliberately terrible. Any ideas?

Chumbas, pictures of starving children I think

 

[elbows]

Chumbas, pictures of starving children I think

Cheers, I dont think it was that one. I think it was something along the lines of 'we arent the world' but my internet searches are hampered by a large quantity of other parodies in this realm, none of which were the one I was thinking of. Never mind.

 

[elbows]

I found it.

 

[elbows]

I see the BBC covered the earlier story I was on about:

Bill Gates left Microsoft amid affair investigation

Microsoft has said that it investigated Mr Gates' attempt in 2000 "to initiate an intimate relationship".

www.bbc.co.uk