I’ve come around on Bill Gates over the past decade. He’s really trying to good by society with the dollars he’s accumulated through his monopoly…he’s doing this through supporting science and sustainably minded technology, and not in building massive monuments like some oil barons before.
Comment on Apple co-founder Wozniak suffers possible stroke in Mexico -local media
zeppo@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Hope he’s okay! Woz is one of the few giants of the tech field who genuinely seems like a good guy.
geogle@lemmy.world 10 months ago
Anyolduser@lemmynsfw.com 10 months ago
There’s some historical context needed when it comes to the obscenely wealthy of the past.
The first thing to note is that styles and trends within philanthropy have changed over time. People today put more value on charitable works in fields like environmental protection or providing aid to people in developing nations. Looking back to the mid-20th century and earlier the great concerns were about preserving cultural heritage and supporting the arts. All of these are noble causes but cultural attitudes about which are more or less important change through the years.
The second thing to note is that mass communication has changed how the public learns about philanthropic work being done. I have never seen anything the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has done firsthand, but thanks to the internet I know about a lot of their work fighting malaria and providing clean drinking water. In the past slapping your name on a building was no different than Bill Gates putting his name and that of his (then) wife on the foundation.
zeppo@lemmy.world 10 months ago
I’m not sure what to think of him now but I’m not impressed at his tactic of “aggressively fuck everyone over and then once I have a ton of money, now I’m a philanthropist”.
hitmyspot@aussie.zone 10 months ago
Are you forgetting about Elon musk and Mark Zuckerberg? I mean, it’s not a wasteland.
jonesy@aussie.zone 10 months ago
Musk is more like store-brand Steve Jobs than Woz.
deadsenator@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
A story I like about him is that he used to get money in sheets from the US Treasury. All still legal tender and you can do this too. He’d tear off a bill and hand it to whomever he was paying and they would be confused.
So yah, he seems like my kind of guy.
Kilnier@lemmy.ca 10 months ago
Can confirm! I still have my 2$ bill from Woz.
Woz may be the nicest person I’ve ever met. I hope he’s ok.