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killeronthecorner ,
@killeronthecorner@lemmy.world avatar

Is there a single impressive philanthropic feat that has been achieved by any of these billionaires?

If I had access to hundreds of billions and I wasn’t able to solve a single meaningful welfare issue for even a single country in the world in my own lifetime, I would consider that abject failure.

Solemn ,

Bill Gates has done significant good fighting disease. Still something that should’ve been decided by society, not a single person, but credit where credit is due.

Unfortunately anti vaxxers have destroyed a lot of that legacy anyway.

Rozauhtuno ,
@Rozauhtuno@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Bill Gates has done significant good fighting disease.

No, he got in the way of progress for the sake of his own profit. The scientists that made the covid vaccine wanted it to be open source so any country could make their own, but he forced the company to patent it instead.

He’s also been funding anti-scientific propaganda to convince people that his anti-solutions will solve the climate crisis. His foundation also regularly invests in ventures that pollute the Global South.

Solemn ,

He’s not perfect, and your examples show why these sorts of decisions on spending and priority shouldn’t be in the hands of a single person who isn’t even an expert in diseases.

It’s still worth acknowledging that he did plenty to help with polio and malaria, even if it could’ve been done better by another method.

danielquinn ,
@danielquinn@lemmy.ca avatar

That “antisolitions” read was fascinating! Thanks for sharing.

SocialMediaRefugee ,

The real obstacle wasn’t patents, it was manufacturing capability. India early on didn’t even let US vaccines in when offered them because they insisted they had to go through their own regulatory and testing process first.

ImplyingImplications ,

Most people say Bill Gates but it reminds me of the classic joke:

The woman you know as your grandmother is not my mother. That’s an elderly woman now trying to get into heaven

Bill Gates acted identically to Zuckerberg and Musk and every other hated billionare back in the 90s. There was a time Micro$oft was always written with the dollar sign. There was a time a young smug grinning Gates was posted everywhere as the poster child for rich assholes. The Microsoft board of directors did the smart move and removed Gates from management and then he quietly retired. He’s had an Ebenezer Scrooge moment and has spent the last decade trying to buy his way into people’s good graces.

It’s great that Gates is helping people, but I don’t think we should all have to suffer under a power hungry cut throat CEO and hope one day they have a change of heart.

unfreeradical , (edited )
@unfreeradical@lemmy.world avatar

Fortunately greater numbers are coming to realize that the Gates Foundation’s function was never much more than reputation laundering.

Malfeasant ,

Plus, is it really charity when you give your money to an organization you control?

unfreeradical , (edited )
@unfreeradical@lemmy.world avatar

It is only charity when you control how resources are used.

Justice and solidarity depend on the beneficiary deciding how to use the resources it receives, but charity is not justice and solidarity.

Donkter ,

Same as any robber baron.

Franzia ,

He forced the covid vaccine to go private with Moderna. Micro$oft was cute and all but these pharmaceutical companies have killed and are killing hundreds of thousands simply by charging so much for the cure.

Kalkaline ,
@Kalkaline@leminal.space avatar

Mackenzie Scott seems to be making it her mission to no longer be a billionaire by giving money to charity.

AngryCommieKender ,

Last reports indicate that she can’t give it away fast enough, but I’m not sure she’s really trying

Franzia ,

Capitalists actually keep the developing world from fully developing. On purpose. And NGO Aid has been proven to stagnage rather than assist countries that are constantly receiving it, such as Haiti. Yeah I would consider that failure, too. But they certainly wouldn’t. And perhaps, with that many eyes in you, it might actually be harder to get things done that go against the interests of other rich and powerful people.

AdamantRatPuncher ,

What are you solving with money alone? We need intent before money. Globally we lack intent, even if some rich guy spends some money, we need to locate human resources. That doesn’t mean I can disregard philanthropy. That alone doesn’t solve things

SocialMediaRefugee ,

Well there have been some…

Johns Hopkins University, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, Vanderbilt University and Duke University. John D. Rockefeller funded the University of Chicago

Denny Sanford, of Sanford Health, has donated about $1.5 billion to healthcare.

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