18 ms·

I'm sure your few hours conversation with him overturns the evidence the DoJ managed to collect about their plans for Netscape laid out in emails and memos. Stu

I'm sure your few hours conversation with him overturns the evidence the DoJ managed to collect about their plans for Netscape laid out in emails and memos. Stuff signed by Gates saying “take away their oxygen supply”, “crush them” and “knife the baby” in regard to killing Netscape while they were up and coming. Bill Gates is a bully, and no matter how much money he throws at malaria research to redeem it, the sad bit is that he set the bar for Bezos, Zuck, Kalanick et al to reach and they've largely reached similar heights because over the years the US government has successfully been defanged. And regarding the Gates Foundation: > ...there’s clearly a conflict of interest that Gates does have that’s at stake here. And that’s this, you know, look, if you look at one of the main problems that the Global South faces right now is that they have a lot of difficulty paying the patent licensing fees that they need on sort of basic medicines and technology including for renewable energy access. And one of the reasons for that is because of the TRIPS agreements, the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which is an agreement that came into force under the World Trade Organization in 1994, which basically massively extends corporate patents law around the world. And Gates has benefited singularly from that because that’s where the vast majority of his profits come from and what funds the Gates Foundation is rent effectively on intellectual property. https://medium.com/@CitationsPodcst/episode-58-the-neoliberal-optimism-industry-and-development-shaming-the-global-south-cf399e88510e https://medium.com/@CitationsPodcst/episode-58-the-neolibera...

AnimalMuppet 7y ago
He was a bully. He really was. Was. People change in 20 or 30 years. I sure don't want to be judged by some of the things I did 30 years ago, when I was a hypercompetitive jerk (also socially clueless, and a few other things). And I don't think that the "vast majority" of Gates' profits came from patents in the Global South. It came from copyrights, and primarily in the First World.
- bongobongo 7y ago
  Not everybody worships wealth. Not everybody buys into the myth of the tech genius/entrepreneurial wizard. Some folks, myself included, don't feel that it's even remotely possible to amass billions in personal capital without doing some truly dirty, nasty, awful things to many other people along the way. So, frankly, I don't really care that Bill Gates is now a soft sweater-wearing sexagenerian who likes to talk about solving global problems with his ill-gotten gains, instead of a cutthroat corporate executive crushing his competitors and perverting the market in the process. The fact is that one led to the other. I want to hear less from delusional, egotistical billionaires who think that they themselves can solve the problems we face as a society, and more from our actual, you know, political leaders. I didn't vote for Bill Gates, thank you.
  - crispinb 7y ago
    I'd always be more impressed by a poacher-turned-gamekeeper who returned his gains and then lived like the rest of us. Continuing to live a megaconsuming existence while consolidating power over fellow humans via 'philanthropy' is just more of the same.
  - manigandham 7y ago
    > "don't feel that it's even remotely possible to amass billions in personal capital" Instead of feeling, you can instead learn and think about how wealth and value works. Capitalism allows ownership of production. Produce something valuable enough and you'll make your billions. There are plenty of people on this forum with a 7 or 8 figure net worth from starting a business, and even a few billionaires like the founders of Dropbox and Stripe. Maybe ask them how they did it instead of assuming the worst.

AnimalMuppet 7y ago

He was a bully. He really was. Was. People change in 20 or 30 years. I sure don't want to be judged by some of the things I did 30 years ago, when I was a hypercompetitive jerk (also socially clueless, and a few other things). And I don't think that the "vast majority" of Gates' profits came from patents in the Global South. It came from copyrights, and primarily in the First World.

bongobongo 7y ago
Not everybody worships wealth. Not everybody buys into the myth of the tech genius/entrepreneurial wizard. Some folks, myself included, don't feel that it's even remotely possible to amass billions in personal capital without doing some truly dirty, nasty, awful things to many other people along the way. So, frankly, I don't really care that Bill Gates is now a soft sweater-wearing sexagenerian who likes to talk about solving global problems with his ill-gotten gains, instead of a cutthroat corporate executive crushing his competitors and perverting the market in the process. The fact is that one led to the other. I want to hear less from delusional, egotistical billionaires who think that they themselves can solve the problems we face as a society, and more from our actual, you know, political leaders. I didn't vote for Bill Gates, thank you.
- crispinb 7y ago
  I'd always be more impressed by a poacher-turned-gamekeeper who returned his gains and then lived like the rest of us. Continuing to live a megaconsuming existence while consolidating power over fellow humans via 'philanthropy' is just more of the same.
- manigandham 7y ago
  > "don't feel that it's even remotely possible to amass billions in personal capital" Instead of feeling, you can instead learn and think about how wealth and value works. Capitalism allows ownership of production. Produce something valuable enough and you'll make your billions. There are plenty of people on this forum with a 7 or 8 figure net worth from starting a business, and even a few billionaires like the founders of Dropbox and Stripe. Maybe ask them how they did it instead of assuming the worst.