Comments on: Bill Gates and Kinder Capitalism http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/01/bill-gates-and-kinder-capitalism/ a radical newsletter in the struggle for peace and social justice Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:34:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Karl Schipul http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/01/bill-gates-and-kinder-capitalism/#comment-13799 Karl Schipul Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:44:22 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/01/bill-gates-and-kinder-capitalism/#comment-13799 I'll take Bill Gates entrepeneurial ideas over the ideas of any foreign aid by governments. Private Charities and Third World Entrepeneurship have a very good track record. Government handouts, by comparison, have a lousy track record. They have a tendency to end up in the hands of third world dictators, who use the money to buy weapons. Private charities, however, have been proven to far more efficient with their resources. Far less corruption is involved. Things are managed much more locally. Entrepreneurial quests to help the poor is even better. Because there is an opportunity to make a profit, many more people are likely to get involved, and keep coming back. Even completely selfish people get involved because of the profit motive. My only criticism of Gates is that he blamed free market capitalism on all this. For the person who said that Gates misunderstands economics, that criticism is correct, but not in the way that the critic intended. The fact is, the nations which have the least free economies are the ones with the highest percentage of poor people. Socialism is alive and well in the third world. If you do not believe me, the nations that have been allowing more market activities are the ones who experienced growing middle classes. What Gates should have said is that a LACK of free markets are the cause of too much poverty. I’ll take Bill Gates entrepeneurial ideas over the ideas of any foreign aid by governments. Private Charities and Third World Entrepeneurship have a very good track record. Government handouts, by comparison, have a lousy track record. They have a tendency to end up in the hands of third world dictators, who use the money to buy weapons.

Private charities, however, have been proven to far more efficient with their resources. Far less corruption is involved. Things are managed much more locally.

Entrepreneurial quests to help the poor is even better. Because there is an opportunity to make a profit, many more people are likely to get involved, and keep coming back. Even completely selfish people get involved because of the profit motive.

My only criticism of Gates is that he blamed free market capitalism on all this. For the person who said that Gates misunderstands economics, that criticism is correct, but not in the way that the critic intended. The fact is, the nations which have the least free economies are the ones with the highest percentage of poor people. Socialism is alive and well in the third world. If you do not believe me, the nations that have been allowing more market activities are the ones who experienced growing middle classes. What Gates should have said is that a LACK of free markets are the cause of too much poverty.

]]> By: Max Shields http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/01/bill-gates-and-kinder-capitalism/#comment-13611 Max Shields Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:26:47 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/01/bill-gates-and-kinder-capitalism/#comment-13611 Truthdig has a <a href="http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/20080124_chalmers_johnson_on_the_myth_of_free_trade/" rel="nofollow">great review by Chalmers Johnson</a> of a book by Ha-Joon Chang called "Bad Samaritans". Chang nails the issue and in doing so debunks the corporatist views of Mr. Gates. It is the heel of Western/American imperialism ala neoliberal foreign policies which has subverted the very thing it claims to be promoting. The emphasis though is not in "uplifting" the poor, but finding a way to make a profit by doing what will sustain poverty. This is not to say that Gates wouldn't like poverty to vanish, but that the priorities are clear and his remedy undermines his "moral" sounding concern. Johnson's review indicates a deep understanding on the part of Chang of what causes poverty and thereby what can undo it. Truthdig has a great review by Chalmers Johnson of a book by Ha-Joon Chang called “Bad Samaritans”. Chang nails the issue and in doing so debunks the corporatist views of Mr. Gates. It is the heel of Western/American imperialism ala neoliberal foreign policies which has subverted the very thing it claims to be promoting. The emphasis though is not in “uplifting” the poor, but finding a way to make a profit by doing what will sustain poverty. This is not to say that Gates wouldn’t like poverty to vanish, but that the priorities are clear and his remedy undermines his “moral” sounding concern.

Johnson’s review indicates a deep understanding on the part of Chang of what causes poverty and thereby what can undo it.

]]> By: Max Shields http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/01/bill-gates-and-kinder-capitalism/#comment-13609 Max Shields Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:27:48 +0000 http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/01/bill-gates-and-kinder-capitalism/#comment-13609 Gates clearly does not (can't/won't) understand economics, and specifically capitalism. He does understand how to make a buck. As I recall, the operating system "he" licensed to IBM that ultimately made him a billionaire (try this, his family has the wealth of the combined income of 45,000,000 of the poorest Americans in the USA) was a rip-off of CPM operating system that he did not develop. What's done is done... The concentration of wealth that he enjoys is mostly unearned. Gates is part of the Jeffrey Sachs, Thomas Friedman, Bono crowd that clearly don't understand poverty and conflict. The problem is they are the pre-dominate world view that must go... Gates clearly does not (can’t/won’t) understand economics, and specifically capitalism. He does understand how to make a buck. As I recall, the operating system “he” licensed to IBM that ultimately made him a billionaire (try this, his family has the wealth of the combined income of 45,000,000 of the poorest Americans in the USA) was a rip-off of CPM operating system that he did not develop. What’s done is done…

The concentration of wealth that he enjoys is mostly unearned.

Gates is part of the Jeffrey Sachs, Thomas Friedman, Bono crowd that clearly don’t understand poverty and conflict. The problem is they are the pre-dominate world view that must go…

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