Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
I'd like to try something different. Here's a link (PDF) to the latest of the annual letters Microsoft founder Bill Gates has written, appealing to governments not to slash foreign aid in these hard times. I have my opinions, but I'd prefer to hear everyone else's reaction. And there's certainly room for a range of reactions, on aid in general as well as on the specific efforts he's focused on (e.g., eradicating polio). Plainly he's an intelligent man, and I'd be interested in the intelligent reactions!
Here's a paragraph from his opening:
Despite the threat to aid budgets, one thing that makes me optimistic about the future is the courage of leaders who are finding ways to make the welfare of poor people a priority. Under David Cameron’s leadership, the United Kingdom set a great example by keeping its promise to grow aid spending despite the cuts it had to make. It is inspiring to see a leader stand up for what he believes is right, even when it isn’t easy.
- Comment (23)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (3)
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
- Pages:
- 1
- 2
Comments :
Jul '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
Bill Gates is Free to give as much of his own money as he wishes.
I say end it all.
Jul '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
Redistribution of my money to people in foreign countries? James Madison, something of an expert on the Constitution, said it best:
"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
If helping poor people in foreign countries were a priority, we would preach property rights, the rule of law, and transparency. If these were in place, they could and would help themselves. In their absence, there is no hope.
Nov '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
Can anyone tell me whether there are places in the world where our foreign aid money does actual good? As opposed to, say, propping up corrupt dictators like Mubarak?
Oct '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
Well said, Paul. Most of the poor countries of the world suffer because of the lack of these things, and most foreign aid simply empowers the socialists in charge to maintain the status quo, the remainder is siphoned into Swiss bank accounts. I remember when the Ethiopian starvation issue was at the forefront of the foreign aid beggathon.. and the government of that country was building a several hundred million dollar conference center for the UN.
The only thing foreign aid accomplishes is to make certain that there will never be an end to the need for foreign aid.
Jul '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
Well, we've given billions to Haiti and they're positively flourishing....
Jan '11
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
Lots of it goes to Israel, Afghanistan, and Iraq. We also spend billions on humanitarian efforts in Africa -- HIV/AIDS, malaria, etc. We're good the guys and it's just what we do as a nation. Reagan didn't have a problem with this; in fact, foreign aid increased during his presidency.
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
Yes, these are all general propositions with which I heartily agree. But I'd be curious about reactions to Mr. Gates' specific letter. It strikes me that there is a contradiction between government aid given to advance "development" (my model is the Paul Rahe model here) and private-sector giving like his aimed at specific targets, whether it is a polio vaccine or mosquito nets to protect against malaria.
And I note that when people get super rich like Mr. Gates, they also tend to become enamored of population control: Rockefellers, Buffets, Packards, etc. In fairness this is more Mr. Gates' dad, but its there in his own letter too.
May '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
I can't put it better than that. We are generous people, with the best of intentions but, the handouts to autocrats have little good to show for us or for the intended beneficiaries.
Egypt is the current case history. Was all that aid merely a bribe to keep the Camp David accords in place? Was it billions in exchange for a cold peace that may now be unraveling? Could that peace have been kept without that money?
I ask because I sure don't know.
Jul '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
I am so sick of rich guys like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett calling upon government to spend more of my money. Socialism might be very attractive when you've got billions, but for those of us to whom every marginal dollar is precious, it's another thing entirely.
Let's have one of these clowns give away all of his wealth and take a job at Jiffy Lube and see whether he's so enthusiastic about more government spending.
Sep '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
Similarly, as Rush says, "The problem in the world is not the uneven distribution of wealth, it is the uneven distribution of capitalism."
Foreign aid is another handout that results in diminished incentive and increased dependency.
Jul '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
What's the federal government's record with the "war on poverty" Here at Home?
Sep '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
Bill McGurn: Yes, these are all general propositions with which I heartily agree. But I'd be curious about reactions to Mr. Gates' specific letter. It strikes me that there is a contradiction between government aid given to advance "development" (my model is the Paul Rahe model here) and private-sector giving like his aimed at specific targets, whether it is a polio vaccine or mosquito nets to protect against malaria.
And I note that when people get super rich like Mr. Gates, they also tend to become enamored of population control: Rockefellers, Buffets, Packards, etc. In fairness this is more Mr. Gates' dad, but its there in his own letter too. · Feb 3 at 2:23pm
Want private-sector solutions? I kinda like Microfinance.
Jan '11
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
Foreign aid is not socialism. It is idealistic and pragmatic. We are the good guys. Besides, we could double the foreign aid budget and it'd still be less than 0.5% GDP.
Oct '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
Mr. Gates is one of the greatest business strategists of the 20th century, but he just doesn't think things through. If you have any doubt of this, just look at the Windows API or all of the orphaned technologies his company has encouraged developers and customers to invest in over the last 20 years and then pulled the plug, leaving them high and dry.
Why this guy thinks he's qualified to pontificate on how governments should distribute earnings coercively seized from their citizens escapes me. As CEO of Microsoft, he was quick to identify things that weren't working and nimbly change course. And of course the record of foreign aid is so self-evidently magnificent that we should redouble our expenditures upon it, right?
Reflect for a moment upon the fact that “foreign aid” has allowed Egypt to purchase a total of 1005 M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks. Now that's making “the welfare of poor people a priority”.
Jul '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
It's not about money, but about principle.
Aug '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
I like some of the specific initiatives Gates advocates, but there are problems once he starts making generalizations. For example, if we really were in the final stages of eradicating polio, I would say "sure, give it another few billion so we can finish this once and for all". Coordinated disease eradication seems like the kind of international cooperation we want to see happen; a benefit of having nation-states, so to speak.
But improving education? Fighting world hunger? Those are noble goals and sentiments, but they are exactly the kind of open-ended missions that will continue to suck dollars into programs, spawning unintended side effects faster than Gates can list them.
I've admired Gates' approach to philanthropy for years; his focus on infrastructure issues is the most effective way to turn money into long-term benefit. But he usually forgets (or deliberately declines to focus on) the larger institutional problems that are necessary for long-term solutions... the ones Paul Rahe listed above. Infrastructure without institutions will only go so far.
I respect Gates' wish to keep his giving free of politics. But the governments he is addressing here do not have that luxury.
Jul '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
Go ahead and be idealistic with your own funds. I wouldn't care if it was 0.0000000005% of GDP - it's not authorized in the Constitution.
Jun '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
I personally believe that the defense of Israel is a special case where it is in America's strategic interest to provide direct aid. But all such aid should be targeted and limited to those things that will help assure that our only real ally in the Middle East can defend itself.
In this case, the foreign aid would be in America's interest (which is its justification).
I also believe that America, with its global reach, should participate in short-term disaster response (but not by turning money over to dictators).
Edited on Feb 3, 2011 at 4:10pmAug '10
Re: Mr. Gates Goes a-Begging
I'm not opposed to foreign aid to help fund issues like distributing vaccinations for curable diseases. Otherwise, I agree with Mr. Rahe's comments above. I don't think the US should be sending foreign aid to fight poverty. Especially when most of those countries lack the institutional progress to be a prosperous nation. If private citizens want to send funds to help the world's poor get their daily necessities I highly encourage it, and I prefer this option to government aid.
The biggest problem I have is that Mr. Gates, as well as a lot of wealthy liberals, always approach the idea from the perspective that government should be the one to handle it, thus forcing everyone to take part in subsidizing that aid. I applaud Mr. Gates for giving away large sums of his fortune to help causes he believes in. I'd rather he spent his energy trying to convince private citizens to adopt an attitude of charity than lobbying governments.