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”.
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geogle@lemmy.world 6 months agoI’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.
zeppo@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Anyolduser@lemmynsfw.com 6 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.