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Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013

thegatesnotes.com

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Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013

#121

Post by kamaal »

jseliger wrote: post #86
tn13 wrote: post #22

As 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 regulati…

That is simply not true. Charity is not just about throwing money at poor This is an important and underappreciated point. Ken Stern makes it in his book With Charity For All , which I wrote more about here: http://blog.seliger.com/2013/06/02/with-charity-for-all-ken-... . In essence, we spend a lot of money on various charitable efforts without knowing what those efforts are really doing. Foreign aid is probably the…

>>It hasn't done much. Why not?

May be because most of that money is spent on 'management expenses'.

Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013

#122

Post by kamaal »

shutupalready wrote: post #106
tn13 wrote: post #22

As 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 regulati…

> Over last 10 years, the sex workers in this area have reduced. Hardly anyone wants to ask if that is an overall benefit to society? The sex ratio for India is 108 men per 100 women [1]. For those under 15, the ratio is 113:100, so the problem is set to get much worse in the near future. If India (pop. 1.2 billion) were to have maximal monogamous relationships and no sex workers, you'd have 577 million happy couples…

The ratio is actually far worse! A lot of 'adjustments' go on during census times. The net ratio is close to (The main reason for that is dowry and extremely bad treatment meted to women in India. Most people prefer to not have girls at all given these scenarios. Imagine having to spend money on your daughters education, tending to physical safety and then only to find the boy's family asking for big money gifts during marriage. And not just that, in most common cases the demand for gifts just keep coming infinitely even after marriage. The demands are insane of course- Asking for large quantities of gold, real estate, or just plain hard cash, cars combined with a demand for lavishly marriage party are a common place here in India.

Some people have absolutely no shame and sense of self esteem and resolve themselves to this kind of begging to get money. This includes people from all over India, regardless of caste, religion, color, regional, linguistic belongings.

This whole thing promotes a culture for a madness to have male children.

I am assuming marriage among people of same gender especially men is going to be a common place in India only a couple of decades from now.

>> Should men who don't have or can't find a normal relationship

Such men should actively work towards a society that doesn't kill girls before birth and after wards. If they can't may be they should suffer and live in the society they built.

Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013

#123

Post by kamaal »

yodsanklai wrote: post #110
shutupalready wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Over last 10 years, the sex workers in this area have reduced. Hardly anyone wants to ask if that is an overall benefit to society? The sex ratio for India is 108 men per 100 women [1]. For those under 15, the ratio is 113:100, so the problem is set to get much worse in the near future. If India (pop. 1.2 billion) were to have maximal monogamous relationships and no sex workers, you'd have 577 million happy couples…

That's a rather controversial comment you're making here. I'd rather see a man deprived of sexual intimacy than a woman constrained to prostitution for lack of better opportunity. The first fate seems largely less cruel than the latter.

That's not controversial.

At least to me as an India, that's what is happening here all over the place.

There is one more theory going around. Soon same gender marriages among men are going to be common here.

Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013

#124

Post by rimantas »

XorNot wrote: post #116
shutupalready wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's a rather controversial comment you're making here. Yes, indeed it is. My comment is so politically incorrect that I dare not make it in real life. Yet I suspect that plenty of people (though probably not the majority) would agree, but can't speak out about it.

The question is what proportion of sex workers truly, voluntarily, entered that profession (i.e. had viable access to alternatives, and chose not to pursue it). It's a lot less then 100%.

Is there a profession where answer is 100%?

Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013

#125

Post by legutierr »

coldtea wrote: post #118
jseliger wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is simply not true. Charity is not just about throwing money at poor This is an important and underappreciated point. Ken Stern makes it in his book With Charity For All , which I wrote more about here: http://blog.seliger.com/2013/06/02/with-charity-for-all-ken-... . In essence, we spend a lot of money on various charitable efforts without knowing what those efforts are really doing. Foreign aid is probably the…

> Since 1945, I've seen estimates that say the U.S. and Western Europe have donated in the neighborhood of $1 – $2 trillion (with a "t") dollars to various developing countries. It hasn't done much. Why not? Because these money are not about helping those countries grow. It's about keeping them down, financing local lackeys, directing their progress in ways that benefit those giving the money, pushing political and c…

Sometimes, when those dollars are earmarked for specific equipment or food purchases, donations are about clandestinely subsidizing industry or agriculture back home. In the case of food aid, this is especially pernicious, because these foreign food purchases flood local markets and undermine local food production, often making the food-availability situation worst post-donation.

Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013

#126

Post by anigbrowl »

yapcguy wrote: post #97
anigbrowl wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Dark history'? Aggressive business practices for sure, but it's not like he was dumping toxic chemicals in the water supply or something. How many people were killed as a result of Gates 'sociopathy'? I'm afraid that slowing the popularity of Linux and the open web doesn't strike me as particularly impressive in the Evil Genius stakes.

Jimmy Saville, well-known British celebrity with lots of charity work for kids, now known to be a sick child abuser. Lance Armstrong, well-known cyclist with lots of charity work fighting cancer, now known to be a drug cheat. Can Bill Gates wash away his sins? Has he really turned over a new leaf? "The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's investments in Monsanto and Cargill have come under heavy criticism. Is it time…

/facepalm at how many logical fallacies you have squeezed into one short comment.

Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013

#127

Post by dennisgorelik »

suprgeek wrote: post #84

BillG is one of the very few people about whom I have completely changed my opinion. Post his Microsoft days, he is the highest profile "rich tech person" who has promoted so many projects and efforts to help the poor. While Microsoft was famous for “embrace, extend—and extinguish” where it crushed any product that felt like a threat (saw this first hand with Netscape). Now BillG is using his enormous wealth in the b…

I have different view on that.

The charity Bill Gates is doing now is good, but what Bill Gates did as Microsoft founder was much better and way more important.

Lots of people are still using Microsoft products.

Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013

#129

Post by berntb »

kamaal wrote: post #123
yodsanklai wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a rather controversial comment you're making here. I'd rather see a man deprived of sexual intimacy than a woman constrained to prostitution for lack of better opportunity. The first fate seems largely less cruel than the latter.

That's not controversial. At least to me as an India, that's what is happening here all over the place. There is one more theory going around. Soon same gender marriages among men are going to be common here.

Here is another theory argued by some sociologists, which is even worse: Lack of women is a volatile situation and ripe for crime, war and violence.

Both China and India have large gender imbalances -- and with a border conflict... :-(

"May you live in an interesting time" was a Chinese curse, I think?

Re: Good News You Might Have Missed in 2013

#130

Post by berntb »

dennisgorelik wrote: post #127
suprgeek wrote: post #84

BillG is one of the very few people about whom I have completely changed my opinion. Post his Microsoft days, he is the highest profile "rich tech person" who has promoted so many projects and efforts to help the poor. While Microsoft was famous for “embrace, extend—and extinguish” where it crushed any product that felt like a threat (saw this first hand with Netscape). Now BillG is using his enormous wealth in the b…

I have different view on that. The charity Bill Gates is doing now is good, but what Bill Gates did as Microsoft founder was much better and way more important. Lots of people are still using Microsoft products.

>>Lots of people are still using Microsoft products [which are really good/important].

And lots of people are using Kalashnikovs e.g. the LRA, so they must be good?

Please don't just write simple opinions like that on HN.

Let me take a simple counter example:

Microsoft had(/have?) a monopolist strategy. This meant they needed to have software/api/data formats hard to clone and be compatible with. this means they had to be over complex and varied in incompatible ways over time (then replaced regularly with new over complex implementations).

That results in lower life quality for me and everyone else that had to use their stuff.

The lack of better implementations, because of the monopoly, was a waste of money, blood pressure and time for at least tens of millions of people.

I do agree about the charity, as a philantropist Gates has a serious attitude with setting goals and trying to reach them. Afaik, that made an incredible difference compared to e.g. the foreign aid of my country Sweden, set at 1% of GNP.

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