3 ms·
I wonder why Bill Gates, in contrast to the Koch brothers, stays out of social and political issues. He seems to care deeply and many of his goals, such as adva
by forapurpose 9y ago
I wonder why Bill Gates, in contrast to the Koch brothers, stays out of social and political issues. He seems to care deeply and many of his goals, such as advancing health and education, depend on politics much more than on his money.
For example, the Kochs work hard to reframe discussion of government revenue / taxes, regulation, and government overall in order to reduce all of them (whatever you think of their goals, that is the case). If Gates invested politically in his goals, there might be much more government support for health and education, via funding, research, availability to citizens, and policy innovation. Despite Gate's vast wealth, the U.S. government spends orders of magnitude more than him; a million dollars influencing politics could leverage far more resources than a million spent directly on research.
Of course, everyone would be better off if the fate of the U.S. depended on democracy - one person, one vote - and not on the manipulations and influence of three people.
- clintonb 9y agoI would not be surprised if Gates provided financial support to various causes and campaigns. That said, I can understand why he is not as prominently involved in politics. Politics is full of people making seemingly irrational decisions, and there is no guarantee that money spent on campaigns will actually result in meaningful change. The Gates Foundation can fund programs with achievable and measurable outcomes without having to worry about voters, lobbyists, and all the other craziness. That level of control speaks to me as an engineer. I imagine it appeals to Bill Gates, to some extent, as well.
- tomcam 9y agoHe is a frequent political to Democratic candidates. Just visit http://classic.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/advindsea.shtml http://classic.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/advindsea.shtml and fill in Gates, William, with Microsoft as the employer. Most of it's the Microsoft PAC but he also favors such luminaries as Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who torpedoed Bernie's candidacy.