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People like him never really change. Bill Gates did a good job of reputation laundering through his foundation trying to reinvent himself as a “friendly elder

by pm90 4y ago

People like him never really change. Bill Gates did a good job of reputation laundering through his foundation trying to reinvent himself as a “friendly elder statesmen”; then the whole Epstein shit came to light, his wife divorced him etc.

jonathankoren 4y ago
Yes, every robber baron billionaire eventually tries to launder their reputation through philanthropy. Yes, it’s nice that Andrew Carnegie built a bunch of libraries, and the Gates Foundation apparently has helped AIDS and polio in Africa, but when you really look at how much they’re giving versus how much they have (and still gain), it’s laughable. Ever billionaire that has taken Buffet’s so-called philanthropy pledge, will always be a billionaire. Now Mackenzie Scott on the other hand, has been giving money away faster than anyone, and an order of magnitude more than Jeff “I can’t think of any other way to spend my money except on an interplanetary escape pod for myself” Bezos.
- raxxorraxor 4y ago
  It is rumored that Mackenzie Scott was responsible for the philanthropy in the first place.
- native_samples 4y ago
  You're assuming giving away money philanthropically is easy! It's not. If you do it wrong you end up giving all your money to grifters and outright fraud. Look at the disaster the lockdown "loans" turned into in most countries. Billions and billions trousered by fraudsters. I'm not a fan of the GF actually but the primary constraint on how quickly Gates can give away money isn't his personality but rather the availability of non-fraudulent people who can actually do something useful and good with the funds. If the rate at which worthwhile beneficiaries can be identified is less than the ROI of the parked money, you get a foundation with growing funds instead of shrinking funds as you'd expect. And frankly the reason I'm not a Gates Foundation fan is exactly that it funds all sorts of low quality nonsense research, and has distorted the disease fighting community in all kinds of ways. Not saying I'd be able to do it better mind you. Just that any time you have vast sums of money and give it away you always end up distorting things and maybe creating new problems via broken incentives.
  - jonathankoren 4y ago
    Two words: Helicopter money. Seriously. The problems you describe come from trying to pick winners. You cant. Just rent helicopter, and let the market decide.
    - jseban 4y ago
      Haha the people who think that bill gates and jeff bezos is actually sitting on that money in cash, LOL Think also a bit about who is benefitting and making money from instigating this type of jealousy, being exploited as an unpaid click puppet is even worse than being a warehouse worker.
      - jonathankoren 4y ago
        > Think also a bit about who is benefitting and making money from instigating this type of jealousy I'll bite. Who? Who has the money, power, and motivation to secretly manipulate the pliable masses to turn against the billionaires, for their own nefarious ends?
        jseban 4y ago
        > I'll bite. Who? Who has the money, power, and motivation to secretly manipulate the pliable masses to turn against the billionaires, for their own nefarious ends? Everyone who is not a billionaire, but still currently holds a privileged position compared to the pliable masses, will benefit from such propaganda of over simplified "injustice", because if will deflect attention away from their own privilege and keep them safe. You will see this most clearly if you look at ivory tower academics or cultural elite, who love to hate rich capitalists for being greedy, to get the "people" on their side to avoid having their own privilege under scrutiny, which in reality is often just as greedy and selfish.
        jonathankoren 4y ago
        Who told you this? Petey "Women should never have gotten the vote" Thiel? https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/education-libertarian/ https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/educatio...

by pm90 4y ago

jonathankoren 4y ago

Yes, every robber baron billionaire eventually tries to launder their reputation through philanthropy. Yes, it’s nice that Andrew Carnegie built a bunch of libraries, and the Gates Foundation apparently has helped AIDS and polio in Africa, but when you really look at how much they’re giving versus how much they have (and still gain), it’s laughable. Ever billionaire that has taken Buffet’s so-called philanthropy pledge, will always be a billionaire. Now Mackenzie Scott on the other hand, has been giving money away faster than anyone, and an order of magnitude more than Jeff “I can’t think of any other way to spend my money except on an interplanetary escape pod for myself” Bezos.

raxxorraxor 4y ago
It is rumored that Mackenzie Scott was responsible for the philanthropy in the first place.
native_samples 4y ago
You're assuming giving away money philanthropically is easy! It's not. If you do it wrong you end up giving all your money to grifters and outright fraud. Look at the disaster the lockdown "loans" turned into in most countries. Billions and billions trousered by fraudsters. I'm not a fan of the GF actually but the primary constraint on how quickly Gates can give away money isn't his personality but rather the availability of non-fraudulent people who can actually do something useful and good with the funds. If the rate at which worthwhile beneficiaries can be identified is less than the ROI of the parked money, you get a foundation with growing funds instead of shrinking funds as you'd expect. And frankly the reason I'm not a Gates Foundation fan is exactly that it funds all sorts of low quality nonsense research, and has distorted the disease fighting community in all kinds of ways. Not saying I'd be able to do it better mind you. Just that any time you have vast sums of money and give it away you always end up distorting things and maybe creating new problems via broken incentives.
- jonathankoren 4y ago
  Two words: Helicopter money. Seriously. The problems you describe come from trying to pick winners. You cant. Just rent helicopter, and let the market decide.
  - jseban 4y ago
    Haha the people who think that bill gates and jeff bezos is actually sitting on that money in cash, LOL Think also a bit about who is benefitting and making money from instigating this type of jealousy, being exploited as an unpaid click puppet is even worse than being a warehouse worker.
    - jonathankoren 4y ago
      > Think also a bit about who is benefitting and making money from instigating this type of jealousy I'll bite. Who? Who has the money, power, and motivation to secretly manipulate the pliable masses to turn against the billionaires, for their own nefarious ends?
      - jseban 4y ago
        > I'll bite. Who? Who has the money, power, and motivation to secretly manipulate the pliable masses to turn against the billionaires, for their own nefarious ends? Everyone who is not a billionaire, but still currently holds a privileged position compared to the pliable masses, will benefit from such propaganda of over simplified "injustice", because if will deflect attention away from their own privilege and keep them safe. You will see this most clearly if you look at ivory tower academics or cultural elite, who love to hate rich capitalists for being greedy, to get the "people" on their side to avoid having their own privilege under scrutiny, which in reality is often just as greedy and selfish.
        jonathankoren 4y ago
        Who told you this? Petey "Women should never have gotten the vote" Thiel? https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/education-libertarian/ https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/educatio...