A Gates Foundation Buffet
With the recent announcement of Warren G Buffett backing off of his pledge to give all of his money to the Buffett foundation and giving $30+ billion to Bill Gates, we've got one of the most powerful organizations the world has ever seen. A while ago, I had blasted Buffett for his relative lack of charity, but this move might solidify his legacy as Mellon or Carnegie did when they gave their money to the people. Gates and Buffett are two of the most wealthy and powerful men in the world and their conglomeration might be the biggest merger of the 21st century. This isn't JP Morgan Chase Bank One, BP Amoco Arco or even the European Union. This is a charitable foundation with over $60 billion in assets with the power to far eclipse the WHO's yearly budget of $1.6 billion, supposedly being able to afford over $3.5 billion a year. This could be a major development in the world, as a new chapter in civilized society where the wealthiest dedicate themselves to the aid of the poor.
However, this could also be something more sinister. The Bill & Melinda Gates foundation operates under a tax shelter, making their assets far safer than Microsoft. They also have no shareholders and very little public influence. So what would happen if Gates and Buffett had negotiated a secret pact to control the world. The combined fortune of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with this donation by Buffett gives them more PPP than almost 100 countries and with Buffett's investment skills, they could easily grow to eclipse an additional 10-15 conutries. With their tax advantages, the wealth will only grow. Imagine if Gates is actually as evil as a lot of people wish he was. We could have this megalomaniac with $60 billion in assets ready to exert his influence on the world. Hell, he could even take over the US with that kind of money by buying a mercenary army.
I don't believe that Gates is going to take over the world, but I sure am thinking it loudly. Gates and Buffett aren't exactly known for being warm and fuzzy in their business dealings, so how or why will they be different as full-time philanthropists? Maybe it will be the new title that will cause them to do business based on something other than the bottom line. But I think that it might just be pride that will motivate them to make this foundation change the world for the better. But they could just as easily change the world for the worse if they wanted. Even if they do dedicate the foundation to curing the world's worst diseases, that could still end up making the world worse and not better. Imagine if population growth doubled in Africa and India due to the elimination of AIDS and Malaria, wouldn't that make Africa much worse off? They've already got heavily strained resources and significant problems due to overpopulation, curing the diseases would only enhance those problems.
I think that we should ignore the diseases until we've done a little more for socio-economic parity. What about doing what the Robber Barons did for the US and modernize the frontier? My belief is that if Africa had a mass transit system covering the whole continent like European transit (but even more modern due to the late start and technological advances) many of the problems would fall by the wayside. The trade would increase, which would add jobs. The added jobs would create an incentive for peace, utilizing those abundant natural resources that have been exploited for more than a century by the white oppressors. Nigeria has tons of Oil, Botswana has Diamonds, there's plenty of uranium and other rare and strategic resources throughout. Imagine if there was a maglev connecting Cadiz (the Spanish side of Gibralter) to Cape Town; Africans could control their own resources and export them to Europe directly.
I'm taking this merger with a grain of salt. It could be the start of something new. As Jimmy James (fictional billionaire of the fantastic 90s show NewsRadio) said: peer pressure amongst billionaires is a bitch. Maybe we'll see all kinds of mergers between the elder statesmen of the Forbes 400 to create their own mega-charities. Gates-Buffett might cure disease, but maybe Phil Knight and Steve Jobs could get together and build up the infrastructure of an impoverished nation. I don't think curing disease is enough, we need to cure ignorance, poverty and the cult mentailty that has been brought to Africa via Islamic and Christian missionaries. We need to modernize the governments and schools, bring the third world into the first world and create One World of prosperous, healthy and harmonious people.
However, this could also be something more sinister. The Bill & Melinda Gates foundation operates under a tax shelter, making their assets far safer than Microsoft. They also have no shareholders and very little public influence. So what would happen if Gates and Buffett had negotiated a secret pact to control the world. The combined fortune of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with this donation by Buffett gives them more PPP than almost 100 countries and with Buffett's investment skills, they could easily grow to eclipse an additional 10-15 conutries. With their tax advantages, the wealth will only grow. Imagine if Gates is actually as evil as a lot of people wish he was. We could have this megalomaniac with $60 billion in assets ready to exert his influence on the world. Hell, he could even take over the US with that kind of money by buying a mercenary army.
I don't believe that Gates is going to take over the world, but I sure am thinking it loudly. Gates and Buffett aren't exactly known for being warm and fuzzy in their business dealings, so how or why will they be different as full-time philanthropists? Maybe it will be the new title that will cause them to do business based on something other than the bottom line. But I think that it might just be pride that will motivate them to make this foundation change the world for the better. But they could just as easily change the world for the worse if they wanted. Even if they do dedicate the foundation to curing the world's worst diseases, that could still end up making the world worse and not better. Imagine if population growth doubled in Africa and India due to the elimination of AIDS and Malaria, wouldn't that make Africa much worse off? They've already got heavily strained resources and significant problems due to overpopulation, curing the diseases would only enhance those problems.
I think that we should ignore the diseases until we've done a little more for socio-economic parity. What about doing what the Robber Barons did for the US and modernize the frontier? My belief is that if Africa had a mass transit system covering the whole continent like European transit (but even more modern due to the late start and technological advances) many of the problems would fall by the wayside. The trade would increase, which would add jobs. The added jobs would create an incentive for peace, utilizing those abundant natural resources that have been exploited for more than a century by the white oppressors. Nigeria has tons of Oil, Botswana has Diamonds, there's plenty of uranium and other rare and strategic resources throughout. Imagine if there was a maglev connecting Cadiz (the Spanish side of Gibralter) to Cape Town; Africans could control their own resources and export them to Europe directly.
I'm taking this merger with a grain of salt. It could be the start of something new. As Jimmy James (fictional billionaire of the fantastic 90s show NewsRadio) said: peer pressure amongst billionaires is a bitch. Maybe we'll see all kinds of mergers between the elder statesmen of the Forbes 400 to create their own mega-charities. Gates-Buffett might cure disease, but maybe Phil Knight and Steve Jobs could get together and build up the infrastructure of an impoverished nation. I don't think curing disease is enough, we need to cure ignorance, poverty and the cult mentailty that has been brought to Africa via Islamic and Christian missionaries. We need to modernize the governments and schools, bring the third world into the first world and create One World of prosperous, healthy and harmonious people.
posted by Dan Pasternack at 5:02 PM
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