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> Gates tried hard to eradicate polio, and failed at that, now he's an anti-vax meme. I'm not particularly well informed here, but my impression was that the g
by spywaregorilla 5y ago
> Gates tried hard to eradicate polio, and failed at that, now he's an anti-vax meme.
I'm not particularly well informed here, but my impression was that the gates foundation has been a relatively successful organization in terms of improving living conditions on a variety of issues. Saying he's an anti-vax meme is irrelevant.
- dredmorbius 5y agoMy read was "he went big, he failed to achieve the goal, that's now used among other bases to smear him." The relevance is that the failure provided fuel to his critics (and a global genocidal disinformation campaign.)
- sjg007 5y agoFailed to achieve the goal... you do know that Afghanistan has polio... At some point there's only so much you can do despite even having the US army there.
- dredmorbius 5y agoYes. Your point?
- spywaregorilla 5y agoBut he achieved many things. That's just one particularly ambitious goal.
- dredmorbius 5y agoI agree. My point isn't that the failure invalidates Gates's approach or attempts. If you succeed at everything you try, you're not taking any risks. My point is that the failure has become fuel for critics, who would quite likely find any possible basis to make such criticisms. (I'm not uncritical of Gates myself, nor do I consider myself a fan. He ran a highly successful business unethically and illegally. He's been a major philanthropist. His campaigns have a mixed record (see comment re: risks above), with some successes and some failures. The policies he pursues are often self-serving, especially regarding software and intellectual property rights.)