• @finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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        12 hours ago

        Bill Gates might hold the record for number of starving babies saved and illnesses cured, though.

        Even if you think his wealth is stolen, can you prove the average american would have done more good with it?

        • @BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
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          053 minutes ago

          But plenty of Americans are still dying of malnutrition, dehydration, heat stroke, hypothermia, and many other preventable diseases. You think we’d be worse off if the average American had more money?

          And nothing against helping starving children in foreign countries or whatnot, but if we’re so bad off that people think more police and prisons are the answer we’re clearly underinvesting in our own well-being.

          • @finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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            138 minutes ago

            Dehydration is a major cause of pediatric illness and death worldwide, some number between 14% and 30% of fatalities in infants and toddlers.

            In the USA it does not even make the top 10, with some number lower than 1.6% according to the CDC.

            You’re actually required by law to provide drinkable water to people who ask in some states, though there is no federal recognition. There are also many programs to assist with heating and cooling for those who cannot afford it.

            You don’t deserve an extra side of fries more than a starving child in Afghanistan. Get over yourself.

              • @finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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                13 minutes ago

                Assume Bill Gates is worth 102,200,000,000 according to Forbes

                That could be split evenly among 340 Million americas as $300 each.

                Can you afford housing and education with an extra $300?

    • Jesus
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      141 day ago

      I’m out of the loop.

      I’m not down with hoarding of wealth or the shit software he’s made, but what are the allegations against Gates? (The legit ones, not the “he’s putting microchips in Covid vaccines” shit)

          • @Chastity2323@midwest.social
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            02 hours ago

            The Gates Foundation backpedaled that stance shortly after

            can you provide a source for this?

            Their initial objection was over quality assurance

            Who is he to decide this? He is not an epidemiologist or a public health expert or a leader of a low-resource nation or even a health professional. He’s a tech billionaire. This is exactly the problem.

            Many large US companies, including pharmaceutical drug retailers, directly invest in the Gates Foundation Trust, creating a massive conflict of interest which is rarely talked about.

            https://healthscienceandlaw.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Public-Interest-Position.WHO_.FENSAGates.Jan2017.pdf

            https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/science/16malaria.html

            • @finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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              01 hour ago

              The Gates Foundation backpedaled that stance shortly after

              can you provide a source for this?

              Literally the first search result LINK

              Who is he to decide this?

              He was cohosting the multinational committee event for Gavi, a vaccine alliance which includes the WHO ans UNICEFF. He is widely respected there because he runs an organization which spent decades of providing medicines and vaccines across the globe.

              • @Chastity2323@midwest.social
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                059 minutes ago

                Literally the first search result LINK

                This appears to be just a statement of support for “narrow” patent waviers during the pandemic. This is not the same as open licensing the Oxford vaccine and calling this “backpedaling” is misleading at best.

        • @MajesticElevator@lemmy.zip
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          8 hours ago

          Question is, how many vaccines would those countries have got if it wasn’t patented?

          AstraZeneca sold the vaccines without making a profit

      • @diffaldo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1724 hours ago

        Gates has history of lawsuits against open source projects. And he actively donates against any real systemic change. For example he has invested heavily in carbon capture technology which is useless to making impact to climate change.

      • @utopiah@lemmy.world
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        1023 hours ago

        Just imagine a World where ALL governments, ALL schools of all countries did not have to pay a fee to the then world richest man.

        Imagine if a fraction of those governments invested instead on infrastructure, both physical (imagine literal bridges going to schools) and software (as some are doing now) or better paid teachers. Imagine that some of that money would be invested in Linux, gcompris, etc.

        That’s the genuine cost of Gates wealth.

        Think I’m a “communist” for thinking that? Well I guess then the American DoJ is on that boat too because the 2001 antitrust law case was a landmark, not a matter of my opinion.

        So… yes, he’s a billionaire who did donate a lot of money, but how did he get that money in the first place? It wasn’t his to donate to.

      • @ludicolo@lemmy.ml
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        81 day ago

        Motherfucker met with Epstein multiple times. That should be enough to say he is just as bad as Elon.

        He is also buying up farm land for pennies on the dollar for himself. His education reform was such a painful failure we continue to pay for it. The gates foundation thought they knew mkre than educators and spent a shit ton of money to run an experiment.“aimed at making teachers more effective” my ass. How do you make people more effective when you don’t listen to their needs? Time and time again bill turned educators away or straight up didn’t listen to them when they expressed concerns. Kinda reminds me of doge raiding the department of education now that I think about it. Bill just fucked shit up in a more clean non obvious manner.

        He continues to hoard his wealth and placate everyone with his “i am going to donate a lot, don’t worry fellas” statements. Bill why are you waiting til 2045 to donate $200 billion? Why not fight elon now if you are so worried? Because he isn’t.

        He is evil just like the rest of them. He has just done a better job at reorganizing the skeletons in the closet over the years to stop people questioning.

      • @AA5B@lemmy.world
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        324 hours ago

        Yeah this just seems like a troll or argument for the sake of argument. It’s just too preposterous an argument

        Did Melon discover Lemmy?

          • @kibiz0r@midwest.social
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            214 hours ago

            Well, if you like BtB, you’ll probably enjoy any and all Cool Zone Media pods.

            But if I take similar here to mean: Episodic true history that is partly educational, partly comedic, with an air of “How the fuck did this ever happen?”

            There are a few that fit:

            • Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine
            • Darknet Diaries
            • Sixteenth Minute (of Fame)
            • If Books Could Kill
            • You’re Wrong About
            • Build For Tomorrow

            Some other ones that I always recommend:

            • You Are Not So Smart
            • Team Human
            • Cory Doctorow’s Craphound
            • Molly White’s Citation Needed
            • Very Bad Wizards
            • Knifepoint Horror
      • @legion02@lemmy.world
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        61 day ago

        He kinda already has. Supposedly already over 100B in charitable donations and has pledged another 100B (basically all of his fortune at) over the next 20 years

        • @AA5B@lemmy.world
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          424 hours ago

          Yep. Equally evil.

          • One guy already donates $100B and pledging most of his fortune
          • other guy a Nazi who not only makes no donations despite being at times richest person on the planet, but leveraged his wealth to end government programs assisting the less fortunate both in the us and globally

          I can see how these look the same. /s