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2014 Gates Annual Letter: Myths that block progress for the poor

annualletter.gatesfoundation.org

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Re: 2014 Gates Annual Letter: Myths that block progress for the poor

#241

Post by mikeash »

humanrebar wrote: post #203
XorNot wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is defined as being a personal choice, not one you get to force onto others. Which is what they advocate - using their position of privilege to deny the choice to others.

Which force are you talking about? I'm talking about the one that mandates that people pay for contraception with tax dollars.

Seems pretty negligible compared to the one that mandates people to pay for unjustified foreign wars, incarcerating people because they put a certain molecule into their own bodies, etc.

There's an argument to be made against taxation there, but if we're going to have it, you should probably start with the better part of a trillion dollars Americans pay each year for killing brown people (or building the capability to kill them in the future), rather than the relatively negligible amount spent on contraception.

It still amazes me that people can make a fuss about being forced to pay for contraception with their tax dollars but those same people have no problem with their tax dollars being spent on war.

Re: 2014 Gates Annual Letter: Myths that block progress for the poor

#242

Post by dnautics »

grecy wrote: post #184

> Four of the past seven governors of Illinois have gone to prison for corruption, and to my knowledge no one has demanded that Illinois schools be shut down or its highways closed. Brilliant.

yes, but we have demanded that the funds no longer be transferred through those governors.

Re: 2014 Gates Annual Letter: Myths that block progress for the poor

#243

Post by mikeash »

stonemetal wrote: post #87
macspoofing wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I suppose I'm one of the 0% (rounded) who disagree with putting contraception in this list. That's because access to contraceptives has been shown to provide a wide range of benefits. From reducing poverty, prevention of STDs, increasing maternal health (from unsafe abortions, and increasing inter-pregnancy interval), reinforcing women's rights and allowing for proper family planning. >When this gets thrown around,…

You should, because there really is no downside. Right, there are no negative side effects to taking birth control, like increased risk of heart disease.

Are you aware that "contraceptives" covers a wide range of devices and medications? It's not just "the pill".

For example, I'm not aware of any increased risk of heart disease or any other disease due to using condoms.

Re: 2014 Gates Annual Letter: Myths that block progress for the poor

#244

Post by dnautics »

#2 is really tortured. first he makes the argument that foreign aid works, then narrows it down to "development aid" and then when it comes time to presenting evidence he really pares it down to "health aid".

And addressing the second part of myth #2(aid breeds dependence), is it not possible that the countries that escaped aid are getting better in spite of foreign aid, and not because of it? There are a lot of other things that have happened to those countries in the era in which foreign aid was given, like political shifts, introduction of technology, improvement of trade relations with neighboring countries, no longer being at war with other countries, etc, etc, etc. Seems like a standard correlation/causation fallacy.

Re: 2014 Gates Annual Letter: Myths that block progress for the poor

#245

Post by gnerd »

hawkharris wrote: post #132
gnerd wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because education in some Nigerian cities is far superior to most U.S. high schools. Do you know that for sure though? Isn't it possible that you are drawing a conclusion on a far away place based on some events/cultural ideas that are provocative enough to make it to your screen as a topic of interest? Isn't that the same thing you are complaining about, just in reverse?

I base that conclusion on a comparison of students' performance on various aptitude tests, the likelihood that they will go to college and the percentage of those who find jobs related to their fields of study.

So then show us so we can take your conclusions seriously.

Re: 2014 Gates Annual Letter: Myths that block progress for the poor

#246

Post by dredmorbius »

sdegutis wrote: post #192
rfnslyr wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have clearly never lived a remotely shit life to make such claims. Do you understand what absolute poverty is?

I don't. My life is pretty great by probably all standards. You're right. But we're all entitled to form our own views of how the world works best, and to discuss it peaceably with others. I think that's kind of the spirit of HN (except usually it's applied towards more technological things).

You're entitled to your opinion. Not fabricating facts.

Your statements and views exhibit a gross misunderstanding of resources, potential, complexity, and systems dynamics.

Re: 2014 Gates Annual Letter: Myths that block progress for the poor

#247

Post by theraccoundude »

slurry wrote: post #155
mikeash wrote: post #7

This is a fascinating letter that helps combat some of the "doom and gloom" that's so prevalent in... well, everything. I kept coming back to one thought while reading this: why are people so mistaken about Africa in particular? The article covers misconceptions all over the place, but it keeps coming back to Africa, and it seems that the disparity between what people think and what's actually the case is far larger…

Two points: I still perceive India as a "shithole". Whereas China's elite has used its newfound wealth to finance widespread infrastructure and especially sanitation projects, India's has not, not on a mass countrywide scale. Fallen prey to coordination problems is the best gloss you can put on it but I still find it scandalous. Second, South America's recent progress has mostly been under governments of the left, us…

Right. And of course you have countries like Chile, which has the highest GDP per capita of any south american country and probably the most stable economy, all after adopting free market principals from Friedman. And some of these countries have grown, but to what extent? Where would Brazil be if it dropped it's insanely regulated state and bloated beauracracy and freed up its people? These countries are all still held back by their overbearing governments.

Re: 2014 Gates Annual Letter: Myths that block progress for the poor

#248

Post by stan_rogers »

w1ntermute wrote: post #222
stan_rogers wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Postwar Japan was a different beast for quite a while. Weird Al Yankovic's line "don't you know that other kids are starving in Japan" was what parents used to guilt their kids into eating until Biafra happened. A "Made in Japan" joke was funny in the '50s and '60s because it was true, for the most part. "Toyota" was a word that to most people meant "poor bugger couldn't even afford a Beetle". My '71 Datsun (Nissan)…

> Postwar Japan was a different beast for quite a while. Weird Al Yankovic's line "don't you know that other kids are starving in Japan" was what parents used to guilt their kids into eating until Biafra happened. Sure, but that was largely due to the effects of WW2. Children were also starving in Germany and the UK in the postwar era. In reality, Japan modernized in the late 1800s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji…

I believe that was implied, otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned "postwar" in response to what Japan was pre-war.

Re: 2014 Gates Annual Letter: Myths that block progress for the poor

#249

Post by sdegutis »

mikeash wrote: post #241
humanrebar wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which force are you talking about? I'm talking about the one that mandates that people pay for contraception with tax dollars.

Seems pretty negligible compared to the one that mandates people to pay for unjustified foreign wars, incarcerating people because they put a certain molecule into their own bodies, etc. There's an argument to be made against taxation there, but if we're going to have it, you should probably start with the better part of a trillion dollars Americans pay each year for killing brown people (or building the capability t…

As one of those people who doesn't want my tax dollars spent on war, I have no idea what more I can do to stop it from happening. As far as I can tell, the government will spend my money on whatever it wants to, and I have no control over it.

Re: 2014 Gates Annual Letter: Myths that block progress for the poor

#250

Post by excellence24 »

best line in the letter: "As public knowledge goes up, corruption goes down, and more money goes where it’s supposed to."

This means you NSA and US black budget. Computers and robots have no need for money. Our black budget goes to paying PEOPLE off and keeping secrets.

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