DailyTech - Bill and Melinda Gates to Spend All Within 50 Years of Their Death

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Science Bill and Melinda Gates to Spend All Within 50 Years of Their Death
Tuan Nguyen (Blog) - December 6, 2006 4:00 PM

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71 comment(s) - last by timmiser.. on Dec 8 at 1:57 PM

The Gates Foundation focuses on problems of our century

This month, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced that within fifty years of the death of the Gates, it would spend all of its assets. The goal for the foundation is to spend the assets in this century improving the foundations and addressing problems in preparation for the next century. The Foundation said this century would be an important focus to address such things as poverty, AIDS and other situations and issues.

Bill Gates earlier this year announced his inevitable step-down from his day to day role at Microsoft to focus more on the Gates Foundation. While many industry insiders were surprised by the announcement, Bill has been increasing his donations over the years leading up to this point. "Global development is a gigantic problem," said Gates at a philanthropy meeting in New York.

In June of this year, Warren Buffet announced that $44-billion of his total wealth will be given to the Gates Foundatio n. The large gift will be dispersed in phases and not all at once. Gates mentioned previously that he too will be using much of his wealth for philanthropic causes.

Because Bill and Melinda have decided to focus the foundation’s work in the 21st century, we will be spending all of our resources within 50 years after Bill's, Melinda's, and Warren's deaths. The decision to focus all of our resources in this century underscores our optimism for making huge progress and for making sure that we do as much as possible, as soon as possible, on the comparatively narrow set of issues we’ve chosen to focus on.

The foundation will also be split into two, one part handling the assets and the other part doing the actual programs and work. Bill and Melinda as well as Warren Buffet will serve as trustees for the program foundation. Only Bill and Melinda will be the trustees for the asset foundation. Buffet stated that he does not want to be involved with the money or how it is spent.

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Well done

By FightingChance on 12/6/2006 4:29:32 PM , Rating: 4

Sounds good to me, let us hope that all of these funds get to the programs and people who need them and not into the pockets of embezzlers. It will be a mighty task indeed to steer the direction of this kind of funding without it running off private bank accounts.

What do you all think that the money should go towards? Personally I'd like to see alternative energy generation and research, and waste reclamation and recycling addressed.

RE: Well done

By ksherman on 12/6/2006 4:46:13 PM , Rating: 3

It will more likely be going towards the development of 3rd world countries.

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RE: Well done

By decapitator666 on 12/7/2006 3:57:23 AM , Rating: 2

Or maybe he could donate a little of his money to make Microsoft software affordable to the level where poorer people are not longer forced to use illegal versions of the software? ;-)

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RE: Well done

By marvdmartian on 12/7/06, Rating: -1

RE: Well done

By rcc on 12/7/2006 5:31:45 PM , Rating: 2

And that is sad why? Because you don't have it?

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RE: Well done

By exdeath on 12/7/06, Rating: 0

By exdeath on 12/7/2006 10:14:31 AM , Rating: 0

Dumping money into third world countries is like trailer trash and meth heads winning the lotto. In a few years, they are back where they were with nothing to show for it, and more often than not, further in debt and with more problems than before, and more dependant on outside help than ever before.

If they lack the ability to be productive and self motivated enough to not be in that situation on their own, dumping outside resources into the problem won't solve anything.

The saying that goes something like ‘wise men seldom give advice, because wise men don’t need it and fools won’t heed it’ rings true here in the financial sense. Same goes for ‘give a man a fish he’ll eat for a day, but teach him how to fish…’ etc.

Send that money to Africa for example, and it will go into building mosques and buying weapons for fanatic war lords. I wonder how long before the entire continent is taken over by radical Islam. But if we use military power to remove those influences and ensure that the people benefit and make something of their country, its highly likely to result in cries of ‘[current president]hitler’ and unjust wars, etc.

So what can you do, honestly? Nothing really.

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RE: Well done

By exdeath on 12/7/2006 10:16:32 AM , Rating: 2

Check out the recent 'progress' in Somalia for an example.

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RE: Well done

By exdeath on 12/7/2006 10:30:20 AM , Rating: 2

Many of the problems are fundamentally cultural. For example many in Africa believe that raping young kids will purify the soul and cure AIDS.

Tell me what amount of money or compassion is going to make AIDS in Africa go away if we aren't willing to 'reeducate' the people and drastically change and reshape their culture to stop those kinds of behaviors?

But if we did, some would argue that we have no right interfere with other cultures, and that is a valid view as well. But contention arises when those same people will complain and whine all day that it's not right, that we just *have* to do something.

So I ask again, what can you do? Nothing really.

And if anybody thinks just sending food or money is going to change anything, you are foolish. The people intended to receive relief will continue to starve and die while warlords live in palaces and cache weapons and supplies in order to suppress and control the people.

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RE: Well done

By exdeath on 12/7/2006 10:39:25 AM , Rating: 3

While it's admirable to want to help people, all you can do is offer them the chance and opportunity by getting them on their feet once or twice or even tree times and showing them the direction so that they may attain self sufficiency. It’s unreasonable to believe you can support them indefinitely and be there every time they fall.

If they can't walk that path because of culture or religion, then we have to move on and make better use of those resources. The cold hard fact of the world beyond our control is that all resources are limited and they have to come from somewhere. There will always people elsewhere that want or need those resources as well. If you want to give hand outs, give them to those who will make the most effective long term use out of them.

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RE: Well done

By jp7189 on 12/7/2006 12:33:20 PM , Rating: 3

A few from my family are missionaries in Africa, and as one example it takes about $800us to build a well in a village to provide convenient access to clean [healthy] drinking water which does wonders for the people.

Build a school and train a few from the community to be teachers.. heck just translating books in to native languages is a big project to undertake.

I'm not suggesting they just hand out food, but rather improve the infrastructure to be more productive for themselves.

-JP

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RE: Well done

By HmmSureYNot on 12/7/2006 11:33:41 AM , Rating: 2

Very well put, could not agree with you more..

How bout you fix the problems in your own country before dumping it on countrys that could care less about were it is coming from

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RE: Well done

By Clienthes on 12/7/2006 12:50:21 PM , Rating: 3

That's why you help them develop infrastructure.

That's how you "teach a nation to fish"

If 3rd world countries develop economically, everyone benefits in the long run.

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RE: Well done

By timmiser on 12/6/2006 4:51:37 PM , Rating: 2

Gates' main focus is on the USA education system. Bill doesn't like the idea that he has to go overseas to places such as India to hire the best minds in the tech world.

So in essence, it is in fact going to the developement of alternative energy because it will help create Americans who will be smart enough to invent it.

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RE: Well done

By FITCamaro on 12/6/2006 7:38:36 PM , Rating: 5

If all the best minds are in India, why are most things designed and developed here in the states? Don't take that as a knock against the intelligence of people in India, but the US has far more innovation.

Anyway, it's stuff like this that makes me hate people who bitch about how Gates only cares about money and is robbing us with the cost of Windows and Office. Yes they're expensive but its not like Bill Gates is just sitting in a vault somewhere counting his money.

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RE: Well done

By timmiser on 12/8/2006 1:57:39 PM , Rating: 2

The best minds are not in India but the better domestic education system is in India. The reason the Indians come here is because here is where the money is.

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RE: Well done

By Mazzer on 12/6/2006 4:52:25 PM , Rating: 4

I would like to see it rebuild/protect the rain forest as well as be used to reforest areas. Defiantly renewable resources too.

I find it funny though. 44 billion isn't a huge sum. The Iraq war has cost us what? 300+ billion dollars over 6 years. What the gates spend over the next 50 years the government could match in a little over, what, less then a year? Most of us say thats a lot of money and it will do a lot of good. I mean one man giving away so much is pretty spectacular, it is just that so much money that exists today could be spent on what the Gates are trying to do. Theoretically if our government wasn't full of a bunch of...ya...We could solve so many problems. Anyway I hope what they are doing inspires others to contribute in the way they have.

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RE: Well done

By djcameron on 12/6/2006 5:17:25 PM , Rating: 3

The US Government spent $406 Billion just in interest on the national debt in FY 2006.

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RE: Well done

By creathir on 12/6/2006 6:19:31 PM , Rating: 2

Ah yes...
Removing the dictator was not worth it at all, was it...
How about helping to securing the middle east?? Putting Iran in a nice spot between Afghanistan and Iraq...? (Before... we would have had to leave from Saudi Arabia...)

I suppose you are right... it was not worth it...
It was not worth the death of a good friend of mine...
It was not worth anything...

The freedom of millions was not worth it...

You're right... the money was mis-spent...

*sigh*

The problem with your assertion, is that our government, is not a socialist fuzz ball like you would like it to be...
I will fight that until the day that I die.

Hand outs never did ANYTHING for ANYONE. Period.

- Creathir

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RE: Well done

By The Arete on 12/6/2006 7:16:29 PM , Rating: 1

Sure they are free if you consider, death free.

Such a large price to pay. I'm not commenting only of the lose of the U.S. and their troops, reporters. What about the Iraqis.

2,890 American lives (as of December 2nd, 2006
392,979 to 942,636 Iraqis Dead.
$379 billion dollars.
No weapons of Mass Destruction.
A government on the verge of Civil War.

Tell me again how you define success, and the worth of it. Whichever side your on. War is costly, not in money but people's lives. You can't estimate their worth. It makes me said when people try to justify war: justify killing more people. I'm proud of our troops, for staying out there, and for protecting our nation. But at what cost, I'm afraid to even know.

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RE: Well done

By hubajube on 12/6/2006 7:20:36 PM , Rating: 4

quote:
Sure they are free if you consider, death free.

"It's better to die on one's feet then to live on one's knees."

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RE: Well done