What do we think about bill gates these days since he left #microsoft ?
@yisraeldov I actually like what his foundation is trying to do in general.
@natharari For example?
Every time I see him talk he still seems evil to me, even more so than when he was younger.
@yisraeldov As per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation
1) Infection disease control
2) Malaria control
3) STD control including HIV/AIDS
4) Tuberculosis control
5) Reproductive health care
6) Agricultural research
7) Family planning
8) Health policy and administrative management
9) Agricultural development
10) Agricultural policy and administrative management
11) Promotion of development awareness
12) Basic health care
13) Basic nutrition
14) Basic sanitation
Those appear to be in dire need in most countries and I applaud people who are trying to help with those issues, especially in third world countries.
@natharari That list is rather repetitive. And also I would say that most of them are rather subjective.
Like what does he mean by, "family planning?". China's one child policy was family planning.
@yisraeldov Well, you can look it up...
The list below it has all the organisations which they fund and contribute to.
I don't think it's rather subjective. They're trying to fix problems in the world in a direct way. They've funded vaccines for 3rd world countries, sanitation, and many other things. I mean, it's subjective if you don't necessarily believe in the same well-being as I do for humanity and have a different criteria, but I see it as a good thing.
@natharari Maybe I didn't explain well what I meant by subjective. I think (most of) the goals are objectively good, but the subjectivity comes in the definition and the implementation.
@yisraeldov Okay, that definitely makes sense and I agree with you there. But I don't see what they're trying to do as bad in any way. I think it's extremely helpful. They're doing things like trying to eradicate Malaria in Africa, or provide treatments to various countries which would be unaffordable otherwise. They're trying to help with research for better crop yields. Their foundation is committed to Open Access https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-access_mandate for data and research.
I honestly fail to see how this is evil in any way. And since it's open access, you can see everything that they are doing and funding yourself. If you do have some examples of evil and underhanded actions, I am definitely interested in hearing about it.
BTW, I don't like Microsoft either so I'm definitely not a fanboy who uses Windows and who just trying to defend Bill Gates. 😀
@natharari
> I'm definitely not a fanboy who uses Windows and who just trying to defend Bill Gates.
G-d forbid!
Just every interview I have seen with him, he seems like a stereotypical super villain. Like all the "good" is a smoke screen to hide that he is building a doomsday device or something.
@yisraeldov Well, he's never actually been a very telegenic sort of person. He's always been a bit of an autistic recluse, so that may be part of it. But again: If you have examples, I'm definitely willing to hear you out.
