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I would contend that it's our failure of imagination to think that philanthropy is the only way to help humankind. I wrote about this a while back. [1] While ch
by shubhamjain 8y ago
I would contend that it's our failure of imagination to think that philanthropy is the only way to help humankind. I wrote about this a while back. [1] While charity sounds great in theory, donating a billion dollars more isn't going to help poor kids in Africa a whole lot, simply because they aren't suffering due to lack of money. It's rather due to corruption, instability of government, and lack of proper law enforcement that can allow them to grow. African nations have cumulatively received $1T in aid till now, how much of it did get translated into actual development?
Considering this, an investment in a promising technology sounds like a better deal.
[1]: https://shubhamjain.co/2016/10/02/fallacy-of-hating-the-rich/ https://shubhamjain.co/2016/10/02/fallacy-of-hating-the-rich...
- spicymaki 8y agoBill Gates would disagree with that assessment. Infant mortality in Africa is much lower now than it was in the 1990s: https://qz.com/468017/child-mortality-rates-across-sub-saharan-africa-have-fallen-by-over-45-in-the-last-two-decades-and-theyre-still-improving/ https://qz.com/468017/child-mortality-rates-across-sub-sahar... Well targeted evidence-based philanthropy does really work. In addition to the challenges that you mentioned, there is also the hubris of imagining what people need rather than asking and working with them directly.