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Why I’m Going to India

thegatesnotes.com

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Re: Why I’m Going to India

#11

Post by curiousDog »

Mr.Gates is obviously doing this with good intentions, I'm not sure how much this is going to actually help India though.

Having lived in both places, I think India and Africa pretty much have the same deep-rooted culture/religion problem of ignorance, corruption and generally not giving a shit about others. Throwing tons of aid at them isn't going to solve anything. This sort of culture has been accumulated over centuries and isn't going to go away anytime soon. In India, we could actually start with trying to emulate Scandinavian countries considering the number of educated folks we have, but that probably isn't going to scale.

Mr.Gates is trying to solve a NP-hard problem here.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#12

Post by sharkweek »

marcosscriven wrote: post #2

While what he's doing is obviously good, I am uneasy with the whole idea that one man accumulates so much wealth in the first place, and then decides as an unelected individual what's best for a country. Having said that, I'm not sure i have a particularly good answer to this conundrum.

It took me a while to understand this thinking but deep down I end up agreeing -- this "billionaire with a heart of gold" is far too familiar to the old thought of "I hope the king is just." We far too often end up with billionaires using their money to fund an art museum or ballet for rich people in the name of charity (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_...).

Living in Seattle, I have several friends who work for the BMGF and there is no doubt they are doing amazing things in the world, but the cynic in me still struggles with the idea that a private citizen is deciding how and where to help. Not like I particularly trust the state to handle these decisions either though, so I am normally left scratching my head and just trying to appreciate the good that Gates is ultimately doing.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#13

Post by skaevola »

marcosscriven wrote: post #2

While what he's doing is obviously good, I am uneasy with the whole idea that one man accumulates so much wealth in the first place, and then decides as an unelected individual what's best for a country. Having said that, I'm not sure i have a particularly good answer to this conundrum.

People voluntarily gave their wealth to him.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#15

Post by btian »

chris_mahan wrote: post #6

Uh, there's plenty of poor people in America. There are kids at my son's elementary school who don't have enough food. In Los Angeles. In California.

Have you seen real poverty?

Just take a trip to Mumbai and visit the slums there.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#17

Post by scdoshi »

narrator wrote: post #14

If he's like most westerners who go to India the first thing he's going to say is that these people should learn to use toilets and not throw their trash in the street.

He's been to India a few times now, so I would imagine he's no stranger to the problems there.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#18

Post by tn13 »

Bill Gate's work is amazing but yet the same I wonder why is he meeting people like Amir Khan who are nothing but hypocrites. I am pretty sure Gates will figure out this on his own. :P

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#19

Post by MartinCron »

sharkweek wrote: post #12
marcosscriven wrote: post #2

While what he's doing is obviously good, I am uneasy with the whole idea that one man accumulates so much wealth in the first place, and then decides as an unelected individual what's best for a country. Having said that, I'm not sure i have a particularly good answer to this conundrum.

It took me a while to understand this thinking but deep down I end up agreeing -- this "billionaire with a heart of gold" is far too familiar to the old thought of "I hope the king is just." We far too often end up with billionaires using their money to fund an art museum or ballet for rich people in the name of charity ( http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_... ). Living in Seattle, I have sev…

We far too often end up with billionaires using their money to fund an art museum or ballet for billionaires in the name of charity

You seem to imply that there's something wrong with funding art museums or ballet... The world needs beauty in it, and if people choose to support the arts in a way from which we all benefit, that's great.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#20

Post by kailuowang »

If seeing how the poorest live is the purpose of this trip, I am not quite sure I understand why meeting Aamir Khan, the Bollywood star, is a highlight of it and the only one that has a picture in the beautiful poster. What I do sense there is a little bit heroism - he feels like a superhero(and justly so). It's just interesting that every time I hear about Gate's foundation and the wonderful stuff they did, there were also some other high profile name mentioned, be it Warren Buffet or Mark Zuckerberg. Maybe it feels even better to work with other people who also has super hero power?

PS: I have nothing against that mentality. It's just that now I realized it I am more curious about it.

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