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[News] [Rival] Gates' Investments Are Called "Conspicuous Donation"

  • Subject: [News] [Rival] Gates' Investments Are Called "Conspicuous Donation"
  • From: Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2010 21:24 +0100
  • Followup-to: comp.os.linux.advocacy
  • Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
  • User-agent: KNode/4.4.2
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Peter Foster: Conspicuous donation

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/06/30/peter-foster-conspicuous-donation/

Conspicuous donation

http://www.financialpost.com/Conspicuous+donation/3218556/story.html

Peter Foster: Conspicuous donation

,----[ Quote ]
| Bill Gates and Warren Buffett and the 
| dangerous rise of philanthrostatism
| 
| A couple of weeks ago, the worldâs richest 
| men, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, 
| launched a scheme to âinviteâ Americaâs 
| billionaires to give away half or more of 
| their wealth.
| 
| This move was widely interpreted as 
| applying âpressure.â It thus left the 
| impression that Americaâs Super Rich are a 
| stingy bunch. Similarly, it tainted any 
| signatory of the âGiving Pledgeâ with the 
| suspicion that he or she might not have 
| coughed up unless Bill and Warren â like 
| the two portly gentlemen in the Scrooge 
| story â had turned up on behalf of the 
| poor.
| 
| The motivation behind the move is 
| intriguing. Capitalism is perpetually under 
| siege, and particularly so in the wake of 
| the 2008 financial crisis and the BP 
| blowout, the two latest alleged examples of 
| the unbridled âgreed.â But far from 
| defending this remarkable wealth-generating 
| system, which enables individuals to 
| indulge their charitable urges on an 
| unprecedented scale, the Giving Pledge 
| seems to confirm that there is something 
| wrong with it. More than that, it supports 
| the subversive notion that private wealth 
| is somehow really collective property, to 
| be marshalled by the High Minded.
| 
| [...]
| 
| Mr. Gates has also become an advocate for 
| corporate arm twisting both to make more 
| products for âthe poorâ (under pain of 
| government sanction), as well as becoming 
| directly involved in promoting such grand 
| UN schemes as the Millennium Development 
| Goals. He has called for a âCreative 
| Capitalism,â which muddles bottom-line 
| objectives with political ones. This 
| potential morass is also called 
| âPhilanthrocapitalism,â which again implies 
| that capitalism and philanthropy need to be 
| negotiated together.
| 
| One of the more bizarre analogies for the 
| Giving Pledge is that it is like the 
| promise taken by alcoholics, as if a talent 
| for wealth creation was some kind of 
| disease. According to The Economist, no 
| less, the Giving Pledge letters âare 
| intended to create a moral obligation, 
| which will be reinforced by peer pressure 
| from others who take the pledge â a bit 
| like members of Alcoholics Anonymous who 
| promise to stay off the booze.â But then 
| maybe that parallel is less surprising when 
| you realize it was Economist New York 
| bureau chief Matthew Bishop who co-wrote 
| the book Philanthrocapitalism.
| 
| [...]
| 
| While Messrs. Gates and Buffett should be 
| free to give away as much as they like, and 
| pressure their peers to their big heartsâ 
| content (although I hope somebody has been 
| bold enough to tell them to mind their own 
| philanthropy), their activities become 
| dangerous when they start directing public 
| policy: Philanthrostatism. The best thing 
| great capitalist entrepreneurs can do for 
| society is to create jobs, serve consumers 
| and make profits.
`----

http://opinion.financialpost.com/2010/06/30/peter-foster-conspicuous-donation/

An Abrupt Interview With Mark Dowie

,----[ Quote ]
| MB:  Do you think that liberal foundations 
| and/or individual liberal philanthropists 
| have influenced your own work, and if so 
| how?
| 
| MD:  No.
| 
| MB:  In Africa there is often quite a lot 
| of overlap between the activities of 
| environmental groups (i.e., Big 
| International NGOs) and major mining 
| corporations: how do you interpret the 
| nature of such relationships? Here I am 
| referring to groups like Richard Leakey's 
| WildLifeDirect, and the mining industry's 
| support of conservation ventures in Namibia 
| and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
| 
| MD:  Corrupt.
| 
| MB:  Major foundations like the Bill and 
| Melinda Gates Foundation have taken a lead 
| role in promoting what they refer to the 
| Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. 
| Could you please comment on the potential 
| impact of this new Green Revolution for 
| Africa?
| 
| MD:  If they learn from the disastrous 
| blunders of the original green revolution, 
| it just might succeed.
`----

http://www.swans.com/library/art16/barker53.html

Bill Gates bigger funder of WHO than US govt?

,----[ Quote ]
| However, a careful examination of the list 
| of voluntary contributions and the donors 
| shows there are several organizations like 
| the Global Alliance for Vaccines and 
| Immunisation (GAVI) -- which has 
| contributed over $85 million -- and the 
| Programme for Appropriate Technology in 
| Health (PATH) that has given over $9 
| million to WHO. The Gates Foundation 
| happens to be one of the biggest donors for 
| both GAVI and PATH. 
`----

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Bill-Gates-bigger-funder-of-WHO-than-US-govt/articleshow/6099581.cms

âGates has created a huge blood-buying operation that only cares about money, not about people.â

  --AIDS organisation manager, December 2009 (New York Times)


Recent:

Merck executive is new Gates Foundation CFO

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14794193
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