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The future our grandchildren deserve

gatesnotes.com

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Re: The future our grandchildren deserve

#51

Post by stephc_int13 »

aschearer wrote: post #48
stephc_int13 wrote: post #16

Am I the only one growing suspicious of this since the SBF/FTX effective altruism turned out to be a front to masquerade a good old Ponzi? I don't think the Gates foundation is a Ponzi, but I am not entirely convinced that all of this is really what is advertised. Are there any reliable (external and independent) audits for charities?

> I am not entirely convinced that all of this is really what is advertised. What does that even mean? Be explicit. Right now I'm left to assume you think he's implanting 5G chips in children... More to the point, barring huge changes in this country, what else can we expect of the ultra rich? What Gates is doing is nearly best case scenario...

I have absolutely no theory about what they are doing. I have no idea.

The question is this: why should we give this foundation more credits than what SBF was trying to achieve?

How do we know this is not bogus? What about secondary effects? What about the potential induced corruption around those super-rich foundations?

Re: The future our grandchildren deserve

#52

Post by alfor »

atlasunshrugged wrote: post #36
stephc_int13 wrote: post #16

Am I the only one growing suspicious of this since the SBF/FTX effective altruism turned out to be a front to masquerade a good old Ponzi? I don't think the Gates foundation is a Ponzi, but I am not entirely convinced that all of this is really what is advertised. Are there any reliable (external and independent) audits for charities?

I'm not sure I understand the concern about the Gates foundation in particular -- they are mainly funded by Gates and Buffett and don't solicit donations from the general public, don't do much domestic political stuff, and foreign political work they do doesn't seem like it'd be particularly beneficial for Microsoft or Buffett's portfolio. Since you're skeptical of effective altruism, Givewell probably isn't going ga…

No post body was provided.

Re: The future our grandchildren deserve

#53

Post by falcor84 »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #46
tmtvl wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For practical purposes we are. At least for the foreseeable future. Yes, we can support a handful of people on a space station for a few months, but that's no long-term solution. Unless you mean we could simply run like Logan, which, while indeed a possible solution, is not a particularly attractive solution.

I will admit that I think Bill Burr put the issue of overpopulation in mainstream consciousness and I can't deny that I worry that the solutions ( or forced by circumstances -- war comes to mind ) proposed are unlikely to be pleasant for the globe as a whole. Still, in parent's defense, I am not seeing that stance in my interpretation of that post.

Is there some interesting connection between Bill Burr and Logan's Run that I'm not familiar with?

Re: The future our grandchildren deserve

#55

Post by aschearer »

stephc_int13 wrote: post #51
aschearer wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am not entirely convinced that all of this is really what is advertised. What does that even mean? Be explicit. Right now I'm left to assume you think he's implanting 5G chips in children... More to the point, barring huge changes in this country, what else can we expect of the ultra rich? What Gates is doing is nearly best case scenario...

I have absolutely no theory about what they are doing. I have no idea. The question is this: why should we give this foundation more credits than what SBF was trying to achieve? How do we know this is not bogus? What about secondary effects? What about the potential induced corruption around those super-rich foundations?

The response is, look it up -- the Gates Foundation publishes stuff all the time.

As for the hand wringing around secondary effects, corruption, etc. Who cares? Rich people are going to be rich. Gates is visibly giving money away, explaining his process, etc. What are the other ultra rich doing? We have even less insight and less reason to think they're pitching in for humanity.

And that's all by design in this country, and I doubt there's a plurality of people who would seek to change it.

I'm not trying to what-about-you. I'm trying to say, let's applaud the good, even if it falls short of perfect.

Re: The future our grandchildren deserve

#56

Post by janef0421 »

This seems overly focused on novel technologies, which I think is a grave mistake. Humans have been developing technology for millennia, and many of these technologies would be very useful in the modern age. For instance, the Persians created wind cooling towers, which can be used to effectively cool indoor spaces without using large amounts of energy.

Re: The future our grandchildren deserve

#57

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 »

falcor84 wrote: post #53
A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will admit that I think Bill Burr put the issue of overpopulation in mainstream consciousness and I can't deny that I worry that the solutions ( or forced by circumstances -- war comes to mind ) proposed are unlikely to be pleasant for the globe as a whole. Still, in parent's defense, I am not seeing that stance in my interpretation of that post.

Is there some interesting connection between Bill Burr and Logan's Run that I'm not familiar with?

Not directly. It made me think of it, because of the premise of the movie ( utopian society based on killing off undesirable society members ).

Bill Burr's running joke is that there is too many people in the world and if he was a dictator, he would be quietly depopulating the earth by sinking cruise ships ( and help economy by building more cruise ships ), because people who use cruise ships are likely low value individuals ( paraphrasing for brevity ).

The connection is there, but it is not apparent ( and not that many people these days are familiar with Logan's Run ).

Re: The future our grandchildren deserve

#58

Post by nindalf »

stephc_int13 wrote: post #51
aschearer wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am not entirely convinced that all of this is really what is advertised. What does that even mean? Be explicit. Right now I'm left to assume you think he's implanting 5G chips in children... More to the point, barring huge changes in this country, what else can we expect of the ultra rich? What Gates is doing is nearly best case scenario...

I have absolutely no theory about what they are doing. I have no idea. The question is this: why should we give this foundation more credits than what SBF was trying to achieve? How do we know this is not bogus? What about secondary effects? What about the potential induced corruption around those super-rich foundations?

SBF was donating his customers’ deposits. Bill Gates is donating his own wealth.

SBF made his money from a Ponzi scheme. Gates made his money selling software.

SBF’s wealth existed only in fantasy land. Gates’ wealth exists on the real stock market.

I could go on. At no point am I claiming that Gates is an angel or that every action taken by Microsoft over the last 40 years is faultless. No, they’re both far from perfect.

But SBF is a con man. And Gates is not.

Re: The future our grandchildren deserve

#59

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 »

stephc_int13 wrote: post #51
aschearer wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am not entirely convinced that all of this is really what is advertised. What does that even mean? Be explicit. Right now I'm left to assume you think he's implanting 5G chips in children... More to the point, barring huge changes in this country, what else can we expect of the ultra rich? What Gates is doing is nearly best case scenario...

I have absolutely no theory about what they are doing. I have no idea. The question is this: why should we give this foundation more credits than what SBF was trying to achieve? How do we know this is not bogus? What about secondary effects? What about the potential induced corruption around those super-rich foundations?

What if what if what if?

Look at what the foundation has done and judge them on that. You seem to be looking for a reason to judge them based on nothing other than your own suspicion.

The most (unfounded) ulterior motive that I can imagine is that they want to help poor countries prosper so that they grow the pot and keep our markets going up. That benefits everyone though so it's hard to knock it.

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