I don't know if any of you watched or assisted to Live 8 this past Saturday.

I must admit I am pretty cynical when it comes to these events or celebrities endorsing causes in general.

It pisses me off to see people exuding goodness and love for just one moment, forgetting that most of what they own and do will ultimately damage the same people they claim to be in touch with.

At any rate here I was, flicking channels on the TV and got on BBC coverage of Live 8 in London.
You would never believe it, up pops Bill Gates, who among cheering crowds, say his piece against poverty.

Now what the heck was there cheer for?

With what face can someone like our Billy, who is pro actively against software which could improve the quality of life of people who can't afford to buy his shit, teach *me* about poverty?

Needless to say that TV went off right and me with it.

On the contrary to your anti-Bill hatred you show, Bill Gates donates a lot of money to a lot of different organizations for a lot of different reasons. So to me, you shouldn't prejudge based on his companies ethics or values when alone as a citizen makes a lot of contributions to charities around the world.

But is there crap celebrity charity fund raisers? Sure there is but no need to attack one person who might not be doing any wrong doing unless you've got proof of it..

From the Consolidation of Social Awareness and Responsibilty:

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$1 billion over 20 years to establish the Gates Millennium Scholarship Program, which will support promising minority students through college and some kinds of graduate school.

over $750 million over five years to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, which includes the World Health Organization, the Rockefeller Foundation, Unicef, pharmaceutical companies and the World Bank.

$350 million over three years to teachers, administrators, school districts and schools to improve America’s K-12 education, starting in Washington State.

$300 million to the Gates Library Program, which is wiring public libraries in America’s poorest communities in an effort to close the “digital divide.”

$100 million to the Gates Children’s Vaccine Program, which will accelerate delivery of lifesaving vaccines to children in the poorest countries of the world.

$50 million to the Maternal Mortality Reduction Program, run by the Columbia University School of Public Health.

$50 million to the Malaria Vaccine Initiative, to conduct research on promising candidates for a malaria vaccine.

$50 million to an international group called the Alliance for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer.

$50 million to a fund for global polio eradication, led by the World Health Organization, Unicef, Rotary International and the U.N. Foundation.

$40 million to the International Vaccine Institute, a research program based in Seoul, South Korea.

$28 million to Unicef for the elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus.

$25 million to the Sequella Global Tuberculosis Foundation.

$25 million to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, which is creating coalitions of research scientists, pharmaceutical companies and governments in developing countries to look for a safe, effective, widely accessible vaccine against AIDS
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the figures were from like 5 years ago though so they may have changed. Of course it would
take billions to repay everyone for purchasing Windows ME!

Hmm you obosivly never heard of the bill & melinda gates foundation its a foundation that helps poverty and tech education all over the world

and who cares what he thinks of software? software has nothing to do with poverty now in all honesty does richard stallman have some kind of poverty foundation .. no not that i know of ( if there is let me know ) at any rate i cheer for him because he does have this foundation and not because he owns microsoft.. now if he was on stage promoting his operating system then thats a diffrent story Lol any way thats my opinion and what i think

Live8 wasn't about giving money (that was Live Aid), it was about raising the consciousness of the G8 countries and getting them to cancel their debts to help African countries. Since Bill Gates has the ear of many very powerful people in a variety of countries, it seems logical to have him speak up.

Yeah wether or not you like him he does donate millions upon millions to chariety which is more than I can say for quite a few famous people. Software is the least of the world's problems.

And besides, he really needed the billion dollar tax writeoff.

That's very nice that he donates money. The percentage compared to his actual wealth is of course quite low compared to some people. Indeed it doesn't even seem much as far as a tax dodge goes. Too much goes to areas where MS is trying to get a foothold or stem piracy for me to get too excited about it. And sorry, it doesn't make everything right any more than something like the mafia donating to charity.

I don't hate BG, but then I don't think his mission in life is just to help humanity. It's about the money, pure and simple, moreso than many of the wealthy. The push for monopoly and total control is very clear.

So don't hate MS, but don't ignore them either. They are worth keeping a watchful eye on... Not about to trust Mr BG, sorry...

Is he donating because he feels guilty ? Guilty of what ?

Many rich people don't give a dime to any charity, at least he does.
The man is so rich anyway that he does not have to care about what
ordinary people feel about him.

I think it is quite decent to act as he does in this respect.

And please, let's not talk about children's work and sweatshops
or let's talk about Nike and the others who exploit human beings
so that our little societies can have the time to care about computers,
or the latest stupid-looking clothes or sneakers...

I doubt BG feels guilty of anything. I'm sure he thinks he is doing the world a big favour and that he is saving the world. A lot of usaians are like that

And no matter how rich you are in business it pays to have some good PR, especially in key areas you are trying to make inroads into.

its alright to hate MS but we were talking about BG donating money to chariety. And frankly I would like to see how many people here donated the same percentage of their moenies to chariety?

This may shock you or something but hey I bet BG doesn't only care about money. Or care about it at all now. He has a family. I am quite sure h cares about them. And Since he is human I am sure he has many other things he cares about. In fact he may genuinly care about all these foundations he has started. Personally he probably isn't trying to distract people's eyes from MS but I think he might actually just care. Besides if I had a choice between trying to make the world a better place for those out there who can't even afford food and clothing or get a decent education OR worrying about fixing the "software monopoly" I would be all for the making the world a better place.

And yeah its not all his money or most of it but whatever. No one forces me to donate money why should someone force the rich?

I have a feeling that if you work out his donations as a percentage of earnings you will find a lot of people donate more. The little that BG gives out is pocket change. And it helps if you look at the places he has donated... Even if he does care about these causes then so what? But I still have doubts that it is all done only in the spirit of giving.

And I'm sure he and steve don't care anything about money at all, or about keeping MS in a monopoly position.

And much of the wealth remains the product of illegal activities, so it doesn't win many points with me, sorry. BG and SB aren't just part of MS - They ARE MS...

Thanks for the crumbs, mr scrooge...

some of you act as if you sit beside him day by day and pick his brain. Im sure the 35 year old Gates is not the same as the 45 year old. Are you the same person that you were at 15? Of course not. People change. We all know of the anti-trust monopolistic practices but there's other things we dont know but we ASSUME TO KNOW just by looking on the outside. He could be the biggest jerk in the world or he could be the coolest person you ever want to be around. You dont know. And I doubt you have access to information accounting for every penny he donates or funds and the purpose for his contributions.

thats a good point jaz...lot about him is assumed i guess..and yes people do change over time..

I think any kind act has to be appreciated...

For the wealth he has,he need not be bothered about whats affecting lot of people around the world...The donation which he gives might not be huge enough for his wealth...but I m sure it is huge enough to keep the cause going...

cheers,
Jared

Let's see, have we seen any change in MS policy of late? Usual buying up of companies like antivirus (and halting linux releases) and that sort of thing... You're right. People change. He and steve are worse than ever. They KNOW they can get away with it now.

I don't have details of all the 'good works' and likewise (and moreso) we don't have details of all his illegal activities. I think we have barely scraped the surface.

Any kind act no matter who does it? I don't know what charities or causes hitler was into, but he turned germany into a superpower... Must look it up...

Again, thanks for the crumbs, mr scrooge...