Why I’m Going to India • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#31

Post by yitchelle » Wed, May 29, 2013, 9:41 PM UTC

MartinCron wrote: post #19

sharkweek wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

"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."

Try to explain why the world needs beauty to the folks of the slums of Mumbai and how this beauty will benefit them. I would imagine that the only beauty that they could find is a hope that their children will get out of the slums and live a more fortunate life than there are now.

I always find it strange that to raise money for charity, sometimes an event (ball, art auction, concert etc) is needed to generate the donations. Why not just short cut the event and just collect the donations?

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#32

Post by tokenadult » Wed, May 29, 2013, 9:42 PM UTC

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.

Bill Gates's foundation does some great work right here in the United States researching improvement in education.

http://www.metproject.org/

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#33

Post by MartinCron » Wed, May 29, 2013, 9:44 PM UTC

sharkweek wrote: post #27

MartinCron wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I completely agree that we need beauty -- I love the concept of funding the arts, but there have to be priorities and we should not rely on the rich to make decisions like this in the name of charity. I quoted it lower in the thread, but I LOVE the poem by Gil Scott-Heron "Whitey on the moon" -- "A rat done bit my sister Nell, with Whitey on the moon"

A civilized society doesn't rely on the generosity of philanthropists in order to take care of the most vulnerable among us. We all pay taxes to keep the rats off sister Nell.

How anyone (including the super-wealthy) choose to prioritize how they spend and give away their money, it absolutely is their choice. I personally think Bill Gates has done a better job than almost anyone.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#34

Post by aashaykumar92 » Wed, May 29, 2013, 9:44 PM UTC

I'm seeing a lot of "What Mr. Gates is doing is great BUT [insert negatives]".

Timing is everything. IMO, this is the perfect timing to start a mission such as the one Mr. Gates is. Why? Well having just been to India last year, my cousins were complaining about how India is filled with geniuses, yet very few who want to take risks (whether it be to help fix the poverty, the political system, or just start cool companies). A couple months after I got back from India (I live in the States), I was talking to my cousins and they were telling me how some cities in the south are really starting to embrace a tech culture and were trying to resemble that of Silicon Valley. And it's grown magnitudes since then; in fact, in recent months, there have been a lot of posts on HN about India's tech expansion.

So Mr. Gates says it well: "To make real progress on the problems of the poorest, you need at least two ingredients: a deep understanding of the problems, and the technical ability to solve them." He probably is going there to better understand some of the problems that exist, but I bet he also understands there are a lot more people there that can help solve these problems. He's a pretty smart guy, I trust he'll actually do good on his visit and it will be constructive to India and its people.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#35

Post by pekk » Wed, May 29, 2013, 9:46 PM UTC

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.

Do those people have nice strong flush toilets in their houses? Regular sanitation service they can afford? Are there third parties which go around cleaning up? Once these things are in place like in the developed world then you are entitled to blame their personal behavior for the problem.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#36

Post by MartinCron » Wed, May 29, 2013, 9:47 PM UTC

yitchelle wrote: post #31

MartinCron wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

"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." Try to explain why the world needs beauty to the folks of the slums of Mumbai and how this beauty will benefit them. I would imagine that the only beauty that they could find is a hope that their children will get out of the slums and live a more fortunate life than there are now. I always find i…

Art is a pervasive part of all human cultures. To imply that people in the slums of Mumbai somehow can't appreciate beauty is to rob them of their humanity.

There's no reason why you can't support both hunger and arts charities.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#37

Post by senorcastro » Wed, May 29, 2013, 9:48 PM UTC

Because everyone loves butter chicken.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#38

Post by droopyEyelids » Wed, May 29, 2013, 9:48 PM UTC

I'd really like a picture of Bill G shaking hands with someone who is basically starving in India. It'd be a picture of the richest person in the world standing with the poorest person in the world, and it'd be a cool testament to the inherent complexity of life.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#39

Post by dwc » Wed, May 29, 2013, 9:51 PM UTC

aashaykumar92 wrote: post #34

I'm seeing a lot of "What Mr. Gates is doing is great BUT [insert negatives]". Timing is everything. IMO, this is the perfect timing to start a mission such as the one Mr. Gates is. Why? Well having just been to India last year, my cousins were complaining about how India is filled with geniuses, yet very few who want to take risks (whether it be to help fix the poverty, the political system, or just start cool compa…

He is a pretty smart guy. He set aside some "feel good" philanthropy and seems to go straight to the heart of things. He's done a lot of good, beyond the money he brings to the table.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#40

Post by denzil_correa » Wed, May 29, 2013, 9:52 PM UTC

kailuowang wrote: post #20

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 we…

> 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.

To understand this, you may want to look into Aamir's show titled "Satyamev Jayate" [0]. Each episode of the show picks up various issues from healthcare, female foeticide to manual scavenging. All episodes of the show are also available online on Youtube (I assume).

[0] http://www.satyamevjayate.in