Bill is definitely not a good person, but he does do a lot of good things. And I’m willing to temporarily forget about all the bad things while he’s dissing Elon and forking over his cash.
He at least learned the ‘right’ lesson from the famous robber barons like Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc: when you make a fortune by exploiting everyone you can then you should spend that fortune to whitewash your name for future generations.
That is the right lesson. Use that money to make people love and respect you, even though you’re a bastard, by building libraries, hospital wings, and other community projects.
“He abused his workers, but he cured cancer” kind of a toss up when it hits the history book.
Yep, and he’s using that charity money to get influence with research institutions and universities. Meanwhile he privately holds stock in big pharmaceutical and energy companies. Not sure if anyone has done the work to trace the money, but I’m sure his charitable donations end up benefiting those private investments.
So the money he would’ve otherwise paid in taxes went to a vehicle that buys him PR and benefits him financially through his other investments.
I know of an organization attached to a prestigious university that solely exists because at the end of some billionaire’s life, he decided he wanted to chuck some cash into a foundation to try to burnish his image.
But he was so morally corrupt that his version of helping others was to mandate that the foundation focus on “helping” people in developing countries find business opportunities.
Read: they assess how people and environments can be exploited for capitalism while focusing on telling stories about how that exploitation improved the quality of life for people there.
Most of the professors who work with the foundation are very wealthy from their non-academic pursuits.
It’s his Gates Foundation that manages the cash, uses it for investments and similar stuff to make more money, and then handle all of the separate donations towards projects and charities. When you have billions to donate you can’t just donate it around. Most charities can’t handle millions in money. Eventually it becomes a logistics game and you’ll have cash laying around.
Bill is definitely not a good person, but he does do a lot of good things. And I’m willing to temporarily forget about all the bad things while he’s dissing Elon and forking over his cash.
He at least learned the ‘right’ lesson from the famous robber barons like Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc: when you make a fortune by exploiting everyone you can then you should spend that fortune to whitewash your name for future generations.
That is the right lesson. Use that money to make people love and respect you, even though you’re a bastard, by building libraries, hospital wings, and other community projects.
“He abused his workers, but he cured cancer” kind of a toss up when it hits the history book.
Gates at least seems determined to buy his salvation.
Got a real Rockefeller vibe to him now, don’t he?
Ah, those gilded age.
He’s been giving away his wealth for decades, and only got richer during this time.
Hasn’t he mainly been “giving it away” to a Charity he himself controls?
Yep, and he’s using that charity money to get influence with research institutions and universities. Meanwhile he privately holds stock in big pharmaceutical and energy companies. Not sure if anyone has done the work to trace the money, but I’m sure his charitable donations end up benefiting those private investments.
So the money he would’ve otherwise paid in taxes went to a vehicle that buys him PR and benefits him financially through his other investments.
I know of an organization attached to a prestigious university that solely exists because at the end of some billionaire’s life, he decided he wanted to chuck some cash into a foundation to try to burnish his image.
But he was so morally corrupt that his version of helping others was to mandate that the foundation focus on “helping” people in developing countries find business opportunities.
Read: they assess how people and environments can be exploited for capitalism while focusing on telling stories about how that exploitation improved the quality of life for people there.
Most of the professors who work with the foundation are very wealthy from their non-academic pursuits.
It’s his Gates Foundation that manages the cash, uses it for investments and similar stuff to make more money, and then handle all of the separate donations towards projects and charities. When you have billions to donate you can’t just donate it around. Most charities can’t handle millions in money. Eventually it becomes a logistics game and you’ll have cash laying around.
It’s a good read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gates_Foundation
Of course, but that’s more than most of the ruling class can say.
Credit where credit is due, and only where it’s due.
Billionaires can never do a good thing while remaining a billionaire.
They can do good things, but it doesn’t make them overall a good person.
I don’t think it’s possible to amass $1 billion in worth and not be a bad human.
I…think you misread me? I said a billionaire cannot do a good thing while remaining a billionaire?
They didn’t misread you; they just didn’t agree with you
Oh cool, we’re all having problems reading.
At least one of us, yeah
Cool captain capitalism defender guy
No, you’re just wrong.
You said that a billionaire can’t do anything good.
The other guy said that billionaires can perform good actions but can’t truly be considered good people.
I made no remarks about billionaires at all - only tried to clarify your misunderstanding.
They were disagreeing with you, and you are making yourself look like an idiot.
You finally edited the “bever” out of your original comment, though, so good for you.
They can’t still do a good thing.
Correct, they can’t.