I wish he were to post something similar regarding climate change and energy developments.
If you're interested mainly in at-a-glance summaries, this might fit:
Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013
21–30 of 171 posts
Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013
#22As people in Tech industry we should be very proud of Bill Gates and what he has done with Microsoft and his charity work.
A lot of people totally miss the point when they say "hey anybody could do all that if they have enough money". That is simply not true. Charity is not just about throwing money at poor, it is a far more difficult job than say building a company. Working for profit is simpler where clear regulations, contracts are in place and a government which has an interest in making businesses work.
Charity is a different ball game, I remember I was in Pune-India when Bill Gates quietly flew there in his private jet sneaked into local red light area to meet the health workers and monitor the progress. No one knew about his visit, when media reached there his private security somehow managed to make him disappear. He had a review meeting with health workers and key government people, and then simply flew out. He does this in all the countries where no sane minded Billionaire would set a foot.
Throwing money and feeling good is simple. Achieving results is very difficult. Pune's red light area has benefited immensely by his efforts. There are at least 3 NGOs who have successfully managed to reduce AIDs and help the children of prostitutes rehabilitate in better professions. Over last 10 years, the sex workers in this area have reduced.
Bill Gates is actually very stingy when it comes to money. You cant simply setup a NGO in red light area and get funding from him. The whole process by which he chooses whom to help is the real USP of his work. That is something takes a lifetime to build and he has done it well.
Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013
#23I am proud that the technology industry, of which I am a part, has created Bill Gates, a living saint.
Well, I think Sainthood is given to those people who work out of their religious beliefs and are busy glorifying poverty and suffering (Example: Mother Teresa). Gates is a not a saint he is just a philanthropists and a good one at that.
Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013
#24Things you might have missed in 2013: The Gates Foundation's Hypocritical Investments http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/12/gates-foundat...
Oh for fuck's sake. How do you think a double-digit-billion endowment gets managed? By Bill Gates sitting around with a copy of the Wall Street Journal and a cup of coffee, picking stocks? No. The money manager roles for the Gates Foundation are extremely serious, and extremely high-status. The guy who runs money management for the Gates Foundation was the former CFO of Merck. Presumably, managing the endowment for a…
Universities can (and sometimes do) take a more ethical aim than some other funds. Example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinvestment_from_South_Africa...
Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013
#25In slightly related news,nobody is talking about the UN Millenium Goals [1][2]anymore, which are due next year. And it doesn't need a prophet to predict that we will miss most, if not even all eight, of them[0].
[0]http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/report-2013/2013_progr... [1] http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Development_Goals
Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013
#26Things you might have missed in 2013: The Gates Foundation's Hypocritical Investments http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/12/gates-foundat...
To be fair though, investing in Coca Cola or McDonald's is like taking money from fat rich people and then distributing it to poor thin people. I see no hypocrisy, just stupid rich people accidentally helping to feed poor thin people, with the foundation taking the arbitrage.
Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013
#27Things you might have missed in 2013: The Gates Foundation's Hypocritical Investments http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/12/gates-foundat...
What would you prefer to see, $xx billion burnt in a hurry in 10 years and then run out of money, or have a foundation that keeps on working for upliftment of the most vulnerable human beings decades or centuries using money from its past investments after Bill and Melinda run out of time in this world?
Also, lets say the foundation did not invest in Walmart shares. How much evilness of Walmart would've been reduced?
Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh for fuck's sake. How do you think a double-digit-billion endowment gets managed? By Bill Gates sitting around with a copy of the Wall Street Journal and a cup of coffee, picking stocks? No. The money manager roles for the Gates Foundation are extremely serious, and extremely high-status. The guy who runs money management for the Gates Foundation was the former CFO of Merck. Presumably, managing the endowment for a…
Universities can (and sometimes do) take a more ethical aim than some other funds. Example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinvestment_from_South_Africa...
The article we're talking about does not accuse the Gates Foundation of investing in apartheid South Africa.
Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013
#29I am proud that the technology industry, of which I am a part, has created Bill Gates, a living saint.
I don't think he's a saint. I think a lot of people on HN, given the same resources Gates has, would do substantially similar things with their lives. It seems like incredibly rewarding and important work. I'm just really glad he chose to do it.
And what is the role of his wife and
her schooling from nuns?
Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013
#30I am proud that the technology industry, of which I am a part, has created Bill Gates, a living saint.
I feel exaclty the opposite, of both the technology industry, and Bill gates.
It's really easy to be charitable when you can't even count the money you have. In addition to that, it's also easy to invest your time in charity when you left a company you worked for, with exceptional intensity, for a life, and suddenly you have nothing to do anymore.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Bill Gates is "evil". I'm saying that there is very little to admire in such behavior. Most of the people, with unlimited money and time, and having exhausted their stack of accomplishments, would do the same.
Secondly, the root of the main problems around the world is not technological, but social in nature.
And again, don't get me wrong, it's good to cure people, invent cleaning bacteria, cleaner energy etc.etc. If you don't work out the social root, it's going to be a whack-a-mole game.