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Why I’m Going to India

thegatesnotes.com

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Re: Why I’m Going to India

#111

Post by zurn »

MartinCron wrote: post #109
zurn wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I hear Japan doesn't have a good social safety net. See eg. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/world/asia/08japan.html?pa... I would be happy to be wrong and the situation might have improved very recently?

That's an interesting article about how Japan hadn't yet extended their safety net (which includes things like universal health care) to the emerging edge case of mass layoffs, something that just didn't happen in their culture before.

"the number of nonregular workers took off after an easing of labor laws in 1999" .. "To receive unemployment insurance, for instance, workers must have held the same job for at least a year, effectively excluding most temporary workers" .. "Today, 34.5 percent of Japan’s 55.3 million workers are nonregular employees"

Sounds like a third of the workforce is at risk of homelessness any time their temp runs out and this has been developing for ~ 15 years.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#112

Post by jimmaswell »

snambi wrote: post #110
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…

"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." Is technical ability really necessary? Some problems cannot be solved by technology. It may be political solution. It may be a social solution. I think BG is trying to say "technology" can solve everything.

I took technical ability in a more general sense when I read that. I doubt he's saying that all of India's poverty issues can be solved by just throwing computers at them.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#113

Post by droopyEyelids »

aditgupta wrote: post #90
droopyEyelids wrote: post #38

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.

I will certainly not call it "cool"

It'd be far cooler than the conspiracy theories and assumption of malice that mediate poor and rich relations right now.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#114

Post by WayneDB »

jacquesm wrote: post #92
dwc wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

He's done a lot of damage too, and every pc that I buy that has some useless piece of windows junk on it he does just a little more.

Oh gawd. Yeah Windows is so junky that every business on the planet runs with it.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#115

Post by jacquesm »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #95
jacquesm wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's done a lot of damage too, and every pc that I buy that has some useless piece of windows junk on it he does just a little more.

Oh come on, Gates is the least damaging Robber Baron we have ever seen and is the one most likely to produce meaningful impact in the robber baron second philanthropic life. It's one thing wishing that history had thrown up dedicated public servants who also ran vast software empires, but we play the hand we have been dealt. If we lose net neutrality, privacy, if the Internet is used against us, not for us, it's our…

You have a short term memory, I don't. This plagues me in all kinds of ways but it is also an asset in many others.

And Gates' most recent dip into my wallet is less than two weeks ago so in fact I don't need all that good a memory to remind me who he is and what he stands for.

Re: Why I’m Going to India

#116

Post by lifeisstillgood »

jacquesm wrote: post #115
lifeisstillgood wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh come on, Gates is the least damaging Robber Baron we have ever seen and is the one most likely to produce meaningful impact in the robber baron second philanthropic life. It's one thing wishing that history had thrown up dedicated public servants who also ran vast software empires, but we play the hand we have been dealt. If we lose net neutrality, privacy, if the Internet is used against us, not for us, it's our…

You have a short term memory, I don't. This plagues me in all kinds of ways but it is also an asset in many others. And Gates' most recent dip into my wallet is less than two weeks ago so in fact I don't need all that good a memory to remind me who he is and what he stands for.

Sorry, are you literally saying you have no short-term memory? Or simply saying I should remember Gates' a toons in the 90s etc? If the former I am sorry and wish you the best
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