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Baseless conspiracies attempting to turn Bill Gates into the pandemic's villain

22 points by LogicRiver 6y ago

vmurthy 6y ago
"Good science leads to useful insights. And good science is the cure for bad science. On the other hand, there are no good conspiracy theories, because they are attractive precisely because they’re unproven, imprecise and non-falsifiable. They’re not actually theories at all. They use confusion to create a sense of comfort and control when it’s in short supply " [0] [0] https://seths.blog/2020/05/but-what-if-it-works-3/ https://seths.blog/2020/05/but-what-if-it-works-3/
acqq 6y ago
And deep in the text is the explanation how it really spread: "A Facebook spokesperson told BuzzFeed News" ... "we are working to remove these types of groups from the recommendations we show people." That means to me, Facebook algorithms recommended that material to other users for years and especially during the last months! And they are still "working to remove." Damn. Where clicks and "user engagement" are the most important metrics, who cares about the negative impact to the society.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
lowdose 6y ago
I think Bill Gates initiatives in Africa are very misunderstood. Women in Africa are still treated worsts than women in the developed world 150 years ago. They get on average 7 children in some parts. There are 200 million women living that experienced female genital mutilation and 600 million women were married before the age of 18. Medication like Depo-Provera are offered in a liquid form and work as a contraceptive for 3 months. Pfizer has agreed to deliver this medication for at least 8 years for cent on the dollar. Abortion is still illegal in 145 countries. With a contraceptive available less unsafe abortions are induced. Less unwanted children are born and women are able to plan their family. In the developing world 5.475.000 children die per year to a lack of financial resources. 300.000 women die per year of preventable causes related to child birth. Contraceptives are the best invention we have to create a more equal relation between men and women. 240 million women around the world have an unmet need for contraceptives. And Bill Gates is trying to supply these women with a better solution and at least a choice.
executive 6y ago
Bill Gates brought this on himself by livestreaming his rich, college dropout medical expert fantasy lifestyle - similar to Martin Shkreli.
pizzazzaro 6y ago
Im not gonna pretend that Antivaxxer Karens (male and female) have anything to offer the Science of epidemiology, or that thieves oil is a solution for a pandemic. But lets be honest with ourselves here - is one Financial-Feudal-Lord really who we want in control of the infrastructure to address this kind of societal problem? In sane situations, Universities, maybe even governments are the ones to allocate the resources to solve these problems. That one man has the money? Further illustrates the Societal Collapse we are enduring. Royalty, in the absence of cultivating a culture of maintaining us Serfs? Rarely grows such generosity naturally. And looking at Elon Musk as a comic foil for Gates shows us just how that usually falls apart.
amai 6y ago
These stories are an attempt of Jeff Bezos to distract from the fact that he is profiting the most from the corona pandemic. It's the richest man in the world against the second richest man in the world. ;-)

22 points by LogicRiver 6y ago

"Good science leads to useful insights. And good science is the cure for bad science. On the other hand, there are no good conspiracy theories, because they are attractive precisely because they’re unproven, imprecise and non-falsifiable. They’re not actually theories at all. They use confusion to create a sense of comfort and control when it’s in short supply " [0] [0] https://seths.blog/2020/05/but-what-if-it-works-3/ https://seths.blog/2020/05/but-what-if-it-works-3/

acqq 6y ago

And deep in the text is the explanation how it really spread: "A Facebook spokesperson told BuzzFeed News" ... "we are working to remove these types of groups from the recommendations we show people." That means to me, Facebook algorithms recommended that material to other users for years and especially during the last months! And they are still "working to remove." Damn. Where clicks and "user engagement" are the most important metrics, who cares about the negative impact to the society.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

lowdose 6y ago

I think Bill Gates initiatives in Africa are very misunderstood. Women in Africa are still treated worsts than women in the developed world 150 years ago. They get on average 7 children in some parts. There are 200 million women living that experienced female genital mutilation and 600 million women were married before the age of 18. Medication like Depo-Provera are offered in a liquid form and work as a contraceptive for 3 months. Pfizer has agreed to deliver this medication for at least 8 years for cent on the dollar. Abortion is still illegal in 145 countries. With a contraceptive available less unsafe abortions are induced. Less unwanted children are born and women are able to plan their family. In the developing world 5.475.000 children die per year to a lack of financial resources. 300.000 women die per year of preventable causes related to child birth. Contraceptives are the best invention we have to create a more equal relation between men and women. 240 million women around the world have an unmet need for contraceptives. And Bill Gates is trying to supply these women with a better solution and at least a choice.

executive 6y ago

Bill Gates brought this on himself by livestreaming his rich, college dropout medical expert fantasy lifestyle - similar to Martin Shkreli.

pizzazzaro 6y ago

Im not gonna pretend that Antivaxxer Karens (male and female) have anything to offer the Science of epidemiology, or that thieves oil is a solution for a pandemic. But lets be honest with ourselves here - is one Financial-Feudal-Lord really who we want in control of the infrastructure to address this kind of societal problem? In sane situations, Universities, maybe even governments are the ones to allocate the resources to solve these problems. That one man has the money? Further illustrates the Societal Collapse we are enduring. Royalty, in the absence of cultivating a culture of maintaining us Serfs? Rarely grows such generosity naturally. And looking at Elon Musk as a comic foil for Gates shows us just how that usually falls apart.

amai 6y ago

These stories are an attempt of Jeff Bezos to distract from the fact that he is profiting the most from the corona pandemic. It's the richest man in the world against the second richest man in the world. ;-)