While I commend this, there's still also a clean water/pollution crisis that plagues the world. And in this sense, I don't mean air pollution, but as in trash - tons and tons of trash. While the US has its fair share of pollution and clean water issues, other countries like the Philippines, Brazil, and African countries allow mass amounts of garbage and pollutants into the waterways and ocean. Huge amounts of toxic waste are being exported to Africa and seeping into the oceans and ground water, or dumped into the ocean. Everything in the world is connected, so pollution on the one side of the world will eventually make its way over to the other. Another reason why this is a huge problem is that a few drops of the right(or wrong) chemical can contaminate hundreds of gallons of water, so when there's tons of pollutants being dumped illegally or stored irresponsibly, just think about the damage that can do.
Bill and Melinda Gates 2016 Annual Letter
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Re: Bill and Melinda Gates 2016 Annual Letter
#22I worked in energy development in sub-sahara Africa. Attempted several solar projects, all of which would have sold electricity at a price considerably lower than the utility's avoided cost from imported petroleum. We were unsuccessful because the country was concerned that by contracting with us they might jeopardize the possibility of a grant from the EU. Law of unintended consequences. Or, great example of compassion disrupting a free market doing more harm than good.
Re: Bill and Melinda Gates 2016 Annual Letter
#23Oh Bill, oh Melinda...
There is so much wrong with their thinking it's sad. Here's one example:
"If you’re an American, three out of four moms at your school have a job. Your father probably does at least some cooking. There’s a 35 percent chance you live with one parent"
She mentions these things in passing and goes on to claim how women do more 'unpaid' work and that that needs to change.
Really Melinda?
You think 'equality' is more important than not having the choice to stay at home and raise your children?
You think 'equality' is more important than the alarming number of single parents?
How many Americans are obese? Are they really happy with themselves? Not for long if they are. Where is that in your letter?
When you can't get the 'best country in the world' to stop eating itself to death, have failed marriages and constant fear of unemployment which causes financial ruin, not to mention absence of free education and health care - do you really think the priority is 'unpaid work' between men and women?
Unbelievable. Who raised these people? Rich people are so out of touch, even when they try to 'help', it's simply insulting to your average brethren.
Re: Bill and Melinda Gates 2016 Annual Letter
#24I worked in energy development in sub-sahara Africa. Attempted several solar projects, all of which would have sold electricity at a price considerably lower than the utility's avoided cost from imported petroleum. We were unsuccessful because the country was concerned that by contracting with us they might jeopardize the possibility of a grant from the EU. Law of unintended consequences. Or, great example of compass…
There's a whole body of poverty work devoted to these kinds of issues, called Institutionalism. My own experience in poverty reduction was working in Microfinance (in Kenya, Uganda and Philippines). I got disillusioned when I realized that even when our loans helped someone make some additional income there was always some group above them in the food chain who would find some way to leach the additional profit from them. The issue wasn't access to loans, our entrepreneur's work ethic, intelligence or creativity - the issue was systemic corruption. Fixing that though wasn't something the free market or bottom up entrepreneurship can solve.
Re: Bill and Melinda Gates 2016 Annual Letter
#25Whenever I see smart geeks talking about tons of CO2, I always wonder what percentage of them know whether the Arrhenius effect (temperature forcing as a function of CO2 concentration) is exponential, linear, or logarithmic.
Answer here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svante_Arrhenius#Greenhouse_ef...
Re: Bill and Melinda Gates 2016 Annual Letter
#26Oh Bill, oh Melinda... There is so much wrong with their thinking it's sad. Here's one example: "If you’re an American, three out of four moms at your school have a job. Your father probably does at least some cooking. There’s a 35 percent chance you live with one parent" She mentions these things in passing and goes on to claim how women do more 'unpaid' work and that that needs to change. Really Melinda? You think…
I see marriage failures or catastrophic divorce rates bandied about a lot in these types of societal decay rants, and it bothers me. The divorce rate has been dropping for decades[1]. A proposed reason for that actually has to do with more equitable opportunities in career, in that women are more free to pursue a career of their choice, and so value systems have realigned to where marriages could be based more on couples being partners, with similar interests and ambitions.
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/upshot/how-we-know-the-div...
Re: Bill and Melinda Gates 2016 Annual Letter
#27This seems like a great opportunity for African countries to build on their energy infrastructure which would both generate revenue for governments and provide a stable industrial environment for development. It sounds like a critical missing component in Africa's economy. Although this would also depend on the public's ability to pay for monthly/yearly energy fees which might depend on subsidies. I've read a few art…
Where did you get that 60% figure from? The EPA gives very different numbers.
http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/co2.htm...
http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/ch4.htm...
Re: Bill and Melinda Gates 2016 Annual Letter
#28I worked in energy development in sub-sahara Africa. Attempted several solar projects, all of which would have sold electricity at a price considerably lower than the utility's avoided cost from imported petroleum. We were unsuccessful because the country was concerned that by contracting with us they might jeopardize the possibility of a grant from the EU. Law of unintended consequences. Or, great example of compass…
There's a whole body of poverty work devoted to these kinds of issues, called Institutionalism. My own experience in poverty reduction was working in Microfinance (in Kenya, Uganda and Philippines). I got disillusioned when I realized that even when our loans helped someone make some additional income there was always some group above them in the food chain who would find some way to leach the additional profit from…
Sometimes I think the 3rd world population most view the western powers as Schizophrenic. On one hand you have some westerners trying to help with micro lending and free solar energy initiatives, fresh water ... (the list goes on). On the other hand, powerful corporations and western governments do everything to counter any efforts by: meddling in local politics (outright financing coup d'etats!), installing their local strongmen to further the profits of the western world and keep the dysfunctional social fabric intact ($$$).
Re: Bill and Melinda Gates 2016 Annual Letter
#29This seems like a great opportunity for African countries to build on their energy infrastructure which would both generate revenue for governments and provide a stable industrial environment for development. It sounds like a critical missing component in Africa's economy. Although this would also depend on the public's ability to pay for monthly/yearly energy fees which might depend on subsidies. I've read a few art…
Where did you get that 60% figure from? The EPA gives very different numbers. http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/co2.htm... http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/gases/ch4.htm...
I originally heard it in the "Cowspiracy" documentary".
UN and IMF say it's around 18-51%:
Re: Bill and Melinda Gates 2016 Annual Letter
#30Oh Bill, oh Melinda... There is so much wrong with their thinking it's sad. Here's one example: "If you’re an American, three out of four moms at your school have a job. Your father probably does at least some cooking. There’s a 35 percent chance you live with one parent" She mentions these things in passing and goes on to claim how women do more 'unpaid' work and that that needs to change. Really Melinda? You think…
I see marriage failures or catastrophic divorce rates bandied about a lot in these types of societal decay rants, and it bothers me. The divorce rate has been dropping for decades[1]. A proposed reason for that actually has to do with more equitable opportunities in career, in that women are more free to pursue a career of their choice, and so value systems have realigned to where marriages could be based more on cou…
You must be confusing me with somebody else - I'm not pointing out decay so much as abysmal state of affairs.
Whether things are decaying or not - you can look up how much the prices for the basic human necessities like housing and food have gone up in relation to wages. From what I recall there's no question the middle and lower classes are getting screwed right?
Anyhow one can be wrong with 1 instance out of 10, the overall picture remains the same.
What you're doing is referred to as nitpicking :)