• conditional_soup@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    209
    ·
    7 months ago

    Cool story, Bill. Who did you donate to? Why did you cut your philanthropic efforts to fight climate change and disease? Why have you and your buddies fought for minimizing and coopting government for years? Bill isn’t innocent in all this, it’s just a good time to blame Elon. Don’t get me wrong, Elon 100% deserves it, but that doesn’t mean that Bill isn’t playing the PR game here.

      • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        7 months ago

        Nobody, but I voted for Harris. Last I saw, Gates was cutting back on donating to his foundation that fights infectious diseases in the developing world.

        • Godric@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          7 months ago

          Oh no, millions of human lives saved by “tax evasion”, let me clutch my pearls closer

          • subhuman_admin_cunt@lemmy.cafe
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            7 months ago

            Saved my ball. He’s using poor people it to trail untested vaccines

            You have a generally submissive mindset, dont ya? I bet you tip your landlord

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      edit-2
      7 months ago

      Wrong place for “both sides the same”. Sure, any of us could do more, and billionaires could do a lot more, but you’re equating a Nazi cutting entire government programs to aid the most vulnerable here and abroad, with a billionaire who has donated a significant portion of his personal wealth to aid humanity, including eradicating diseases

      • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        7 months ago

        Nah, I saw a year or two back that Bill was pulling back from his climate and disease philanthropy. I think this is just him jumping on a chance to do some PR by dunking on Musk.

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          7 months ago

          There was a recent announcement where he reiterated a goal of giving away 99% of his wealth! Of course you could quibble about his choices of charity and how he built his wealth, but the formerly wealthiest person in the US giving away 99% is a huge deal, and we can not dream of other billionaires following suit.

          While Musk isn’t retired yet, how much has he donated to any cause? Yes, Musk deserves this PR dunk

          • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            7 months ago

            Musk deserves a lot more than just a PR dunk, but I’m still not entirely convinced that it’s just a cynical PR play. Hopefully Bill will prove me wrong.

          • conditional_soup@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            7 months ago

            Well, a few things:

            1. they say the only bad press is no press.

            2. We’re at a moment where anger against the wealthiest people on the planet has never been higher, except maybe during a revolution. Bill is among this group, and he’s likely cognizant that Dingus and Doofus up in DC are exacerbating that sentiment. Maybe he’s hedging his bets to keep from getting put against the wall.

            3. Didn’t he fly to Epstein Island? Wasn’t it shortly after we found out about that that Melinda divorced him? Probably not the most recent thing he’d like to be remembered for.

            • AA5B@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              7 months ago

              Gates was always widely reviled. He didn’t build a vast fortune drowning competitors and locking customers into frustrating experiences by being a Boy Scout.

              Maybe you dismiss his actions in retirement as an attempt to resurrect his reputation, but it’s succeeded. Compare to other billionaires. Did he keep building wealth until he died? No. Did he focus on establishing a dynasty or wealthy chain of heirs? No. Did he buy his way into politics? No. Did he only donate to one place? No. Did his foundation fade away into obscurity and irrelevance? No. Did he donate to the most popular causes among billionaires? No. Now try to find a billionaire who has done as much good for as many people. From anywhere in history

              It’s easy to find fault in anyone, but this is the wrong windmill to tilt at.

      • lemonaz@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        7 months ago

        Surprised I had to scroll so long for this article. This is probably the best example (recent history too) of Bill’s actions killing kids.

        I’m still glad he called Elon out. Let them fight.

          • Chastity2323@midwest.social
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            7 months ago

            This isn’t Bill’s action, it’s Bill’s inaction.

            If you had read the article, you would know that he very actively pressured Oxford not to open license the vaccine, leveraging his $750 million donation to the university for vaccine research.

              • Chastity2323@midwest.social
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                7 months ago

                Really? Show me where.

                It claims that he bragged about doing so

                The sentence after where it says that… You have ctrl f. Use it.

                that other article doesn’t support that claim with any evidence that he pressured them to keep their patent, that he bragged about it, or had any say in the final decision.

                Not sure what “evidence” you want… Bill Gates said it was true himself and did multiple interviews talking about it which are not hard to find. Every article I can find online says the same story - that Oxford initially planned to open license the vaccine and then Gates pressured them to change course.

    • Bacano@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      7 months ago

      Mmm yes. This is why I Lemmy. This article had so many bots praising him on Reddit. Refreshing to hear something other than boot licking