[Gllug] Bill Gates To Leave Microsoft

[Mike Brodbelt]

On Sat, 2006-06-17 at 13:43 +0100, Paul M wrote:

> I do have a healthy respect for the work the Gates foundation does
> with tropical
> diseases but  I think there is an argument to be made that masssive
> concentration
> of wealth is inherently unhealthy at a societal level, and profoundly
> undemocratic.

I don't think you'll find a lot of argument there - it creates "micro
dictatorships" within society where a single individual can gather far
more power than is good for the society.

> Its
> only luck that Gates has chosen to put his wealth towards something that is an
> undoubted social good, rather than something that isn't it. Putting
> that much power into
> the hands of anyone individual is just not good, particularly since there is no
> accountability.

Indeed.

> It is also worth rembering that not all of Gates' philanthrophy has
> been so benevolent. He has certainly put a lot of computers into
> librarys in poor areas but, unsurprisingly, the
> program was conditional on them running Microsoft software, helping to
> encourage the futher accumulation of wealth.

Yes - the "free computers" program was something I've always viewed very
cynically. MS has always taken that attitude though - just observe how
they're quite happy to have their software widely pirated to get market
share in new economies, then when people are dependent on it, they do
their best to tighten the screws until the cash starts getting squeezed
out.

>  Had such a program been
> funded, instead, from taxes
> raised on such massive wealth, there would have been a degree of democratic
> accountability.

The problem with this is that it wouldn't have been funded. Tropical
diseases have been largely ignored by the Governments that could have
done something about them, as the demographic they affect is mostly too
poor to have a significant voice. You just have to look at how public
money is wasted today to conclude that governments are, by and large,
ill equipped to do this sort of thing. The problem is there's no other
group out there that is really in a position to do it. This is where
things like the Gates foundation can achieve results, precisely because
they're driven by one person making decisions. This is of course
socially dangerous, as that person could decide to fund anything, and
the discussion about the ends justifying the means is another story
again but I have very little faith in state funded programs, despite
believing that in theory they should be the best route to achieve
results.

Mike

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