$500 million to fight Aids, TB and Malaria

[Yamashita]

Just read that Bill Gates pledges to donate $500 million dollars to fight Aids, TB and Malaria diseases, just wondering what you all think of his philanthropist work?

ok, here is the source:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060809/en_af...nd_060809161943 (http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060809/en_afp/healthaidstbmalariafund_060809161943)

[rouchambeau]

OMG that terrible! He's bourgeois so anything he does is bad!!!!111one!!

[Janus]

Bill Gates's net worth is over $40 billion which means that 500 million makes a very small dent in his wallet.

Gates engages in philanthropy because it makes him feel better about himself and because as the richest man in the world, it would be very bad publicity not to donate anything. Besides, he'll make up for that money manyfold as long as his company expands.

[The Sloth]

good of him to do so.

of course, that money will be gone rather quickly.

[Zero]

I don't see how anyone could stand to have 40 billion dollars just sitting around when there are an average of 300 kids every 35 minutes dieing from hunger.

I applaud his charity work. Though charity work to scale would be better served.

[Morag]

Funding shortfalls for HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis are estimated at 8.5 billion currently, to rise to 12 billion by 2015. So, he could do a lot more. However, I applaud him and his wife; at least they care. And a lot of their efforts in the past have been to innoculate children against other preventable diseases and to engineer needles that would prevent the spread of disease. They've got their feet wet now, and hopefully have experience with the groups they've chosen to work with. It can be difficult to seperate the really useful ones from the ones with currently unattainable goals. There are rumours in the ID community that the first installment is just a check to see what programs ask for funds and how good they are at fulfilling those goals. Also I think the fund might be funding vaccine attempts for HIV/AIDS- not sure.

At the same time, a more effective way of gaining funding for these programs would be for Western countries to actually live up to their .7% GDP promise to foreign aid.

[Invader Zim]

I recall reading that he has left 95% of his money to his charitable organisations.

[Morag]

Originally posted by [email protected] 10 2006, 04:18 PM
I recall reading that he has left 95% of his money to his charitable organisations.
I think your right. Whether or not it's been earmarkd already is a question I'd like to ask.

[Fuzzy_Louster]

I know Warren Buffet has left an overwhelming amount of his fortune to charities once he dies, but I only know that because I live in Nebraska and they praise him about every other day for that.

[red team]

* Please Thank The Master For His Generosity *

Please, charity although may do some good is never going to get to the root of the problem. It's a good public image stunt, but in the end when you have a dependency relation upon someone who owns the resources that you need what does that really demonstrates in terms of power relation and initiative to improve your situation?

A lot more lives could be saved and a lot more long term good could be accomplished if you violate current property laws, like patents on pharmaceuticals for instance, that allows you to help yourself with the resources that is legally hoarded by these masters than the receiving of handouts from them. But, we know they'll never relinquish that because that's the source for them to accumulated all that money available for handouts in the first place. Don't get me wrong. Charity is good, but nobody's going to undermine the very thing that enable you to be a charitable master in the first place. You're not that unselfish, otherwise you'll be a revolutionary.

[KC]

This is the equivalent to me giving about a penny to charity. Would you applaud me for it?

[ichneumon]

just FYI, from a person who works with global diseases and prevention, we all LOVE the BMG foundation. he sucks money from stupid western technojunkies and gives it to africa - good for us. and we NEED that money. one of the things he contributing to is a vaccine for malaria - 4000 people/day die of it.

it *does* go to the source. when the USA gives money for "AIDS relief" it goes directly to the pharmco's. every penny. the malaria vaccine is the holy grail for us, and it may well happen solely because of BG.

the best thing he does, however, is to actually make the shit WORK. getting results. yes, i agree about the $40billion - but hell, beggars can't be chosers. it's a start.

[Janus]

he sucks money from stupid western technojunkies and gives it to africa
He doesn't suck money, he takes it from his own pocket. Even he will admit that it hardly makes a dent in his account though.


but hell, beggars can't be chosers. it's a start.
Yeah, but there's no need to go wild over it.

[Abolish Communism]

Gates engages in philanthropy because it makes him feel better about himself and because as the richest man in the world, it would be very bad publicity not to donate anything. Besides, he'll make up for that money manyfold as long as his company expands.

Janus, haven't you ever done anything out of the kindness of your heart? Don't people everywhere in the world have the right to do the same without being second guessed. What if what you did in this same way was questioned and discussed. You want to take a dozen old ladies to the cinema, but wait! What are your motives!?!

[Janus]

Sure, but if I were to give someone a penny out of my wallet, should that be applauded? Because that is the equivalent of what Gates is doing.

[Abolish Communism]

No one said you should appaud Gates. I didn't.

[ichneumon]

your penny won't save 3000 children a day from dying from malaria. frankly, i'm somewhat hoping that it will start a trend. i applaud him for just being aware of the problem. most people aren't.

he sucks money in that people pay for Windows™, when they could use linux or a cracked copy of windows.

[CheRev]

It's good that he's giving it. He has many options as to what to do with the money and he could of done any number of non-philantropic things with it. However, I doubt it's completely altruisitc, it's not a very difficult thing to do when you have so much money. I think any moral minded person in the same situation would do the same so lets not put him on a big pedestal just yet!