I don’t know if Bill Gates is quite as bad as Oprah Winfrey yet, but his mosquito stunt seems to show a desire to draw attention to his own generosity, rather than a legitimate attempt to put an end to the malaria epidemic that has killed millions. The stunt that I speak of is where he let loose a bunch of mosquitoes into a crowd to make a point about malaria.
Just what was Bill Gates point? I don’t really know. He said that more money was spent on baldness drugs than malaria. That is sad, but probably true. Perhaps there was a more specific point, but I would think with all Bill Gates money and the money from his “foundation” that he would be capable of getting it out. As it stands it appears to be another swipe at the evil Americans who are letting poor people die. This, like when Oprah does it is coming from the richest of the rich. Not only that, but it seems profitable to be so publicly generous when you already have a name and product that everyone knows.
There apparently is something specific from the Gates Foundation. $1.4 billion has been promised to put into a vaccine that could reduce deaths by two-thirds, if it works. If it works? We already have a way to stop malaria and they are spending $1.4 billion for something that might work? How many poor people can you feed with $1.4 billion? Meanwhile, millions continue to die from malaria.
Perhaps Mr. Gates meant to mention that we once had malaria under control, but through politics DDT was banned paving the way for far more deaths than DDT ever had the potential to cause. I urge you to read the American Council on Science and Health story that was written way back in 2002. Think of the millions who died before and since - thanks to do-gooder politicians and their minions who care more about their power and a pat on the back than saving people. Here is an excerpt:
Now, thirty years later, it is vividly apparent that DDT was not hazardous to human health and that the banning of its domestic use led to its diminished production in the United States — and less availability of DDT for the developing world. The results were disastrous: at least 1-2 million people continue to die from malaria each year, 30-60 million or more lives needlessly lost since the ban took effect. This is especially tragic since there was hope of eradicating the disease altogether when DDT was first introduced and its potential was recognized.
The Environmental Defense Fund was an activist organization that pushed the DDT ban citing “health concerns.” Today such buzz words have evolved into other kind and gentle phrases, which mask the fact that millions are dying in the name of “health.” You know, buzz words like “reproductive health” and the like. They sound like they could only be good things.
The EPA’s administrator, William Ruckelshausand received warnings from his own advisers as to what would happen if DDT was banned. Despite that, he and his fellow politicians went ahead in the name of “health concerns” and did it anyway. Perhaps there was a global scientific consensus that allowed him to ignore the warnings and good old common sense. Sound familiar?
I suppose Bill Gates may have meant to say that it was the kind of “sky is falling” global warming profiteers who caused the malaria problem in the first place. The same kind of save the world big government regulation types who allowed millions to die from malaria. Then again, Bill Gates has never seemed to have the courage to risk ruffling any real feathers and risking losing a real dollar in the process.
Bill Gates, who has been the target of liberals in Washington appears more willing to play the politics and profit game of generosity than actually trying to make a real difference. Possibly it keeps him from having to defend his success to liberals who frown on such entrepreneurial people. Maybe it is a shield that meant to protect against scrutiny for some monopolizing practices. Then again, it might just clear his conscience for having so much wealth by trying to convince people Oprah style that he is such a generous man.
I don’t like putting Bill Gates in the same boat as Oprah when it comes to the generosity game, but given his means to get a real message out there I find myself compelled to do so until I find out otherwise. We hear about big oil and their greed, but what about “big charity?” It is publicity money can’t buy for some. Maybe I can coin a phrase here and just call the profiting of generosity ”big Oprah.” Not to be confused with or the making fun of her fluctuating waistline.
It bothers me when rich people like Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey, who live lifestyles that the average person cannot even conceive of try to make the little guy feel guilty for just living. You see hypocrites in Hollywood and politicians who talk a good game, yet do not practice what they preach. It is just for us peons to do as they say and not as they do. Does the following sound like any people out there today?
“As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in her two mites. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:1-4)
The moral of the Biblical story of the Widow’s mite is obvious. Today we have some who not only give purely out of their wealth, but seem to profit immensely from it. I am not ready to put Bill Gates into the elite class of political hypocrites who appear to put a couple hundred dollars in your pocket, while taking far more than that out of your other pocket - all the while getting praise from the sucker born every minute sheeple. Just like the politics of environmental and global warming extremism, the politics of charity is a shell game.
I will leave you with one more Biblical passage on the subject. You do not need to be a Christian to comprehend the principle of decency involved here. Are you listening Oprah?
“When you give to the poor, don’t be like the hypocrites. They blow trumpets in the synagogues and on the streets so that people will see them and honor them. I tell you the truth, those hypocrites already have their full reward.” (Matthew 6: 2)
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