BILL GATES ON WEALTH AND POVERTY.

[Anthony Akinola]

Our American citizenship, wealthy parents aid our success —Bill, Melinda Gates

Published September 22, 2019

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Bill and Melinda Gates. Web image

Billionaire couple, Bill and Melinda Gates, have said that being born American to wealthy parents are some of the factors that were responsible for their ultimate success.

In an introduction to The Goalkeepers 2019 Report — their foundation’s annual report card on the world’s progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, the Gateses noted that when individuals lack such privileges, their probability of being poor is high.

“We were born in a wealthy country to white, well-off parents who lived in thriving communities and were able to send us to excellent schools.

“These factors, among many others, put us in a great position to be successful,” the billionaire couple said.

They lament that there are billions of people on the other side of these dividing lines, however, noting, “For hundreds of millions of people around the world, hardship is all but guaranteed.”

They say that if one views life as a journey, every single disadvantage makes the journey harder; disclosing that, for them as Americans from wealthy homes, “Our path forward has been relatively clear of obstacles.”

This is not the same for persons born in poor countries to poor families, especially if they are female, the Gateses said.

“For a girl born in the Sahel, one of the poorest regions in the world, getting to a healthy, productive life requires overcoming hurdle after hurdle after hurdle,” they said; expressing disapproval for such a life.

“We believe that’s wrong. Every person should have an equal opportunity to lead a healthy, productive life,” they said.

Tracing their foundation’s activities, they said, “For the past 20 years, we’ve invested in health and development in low-income countries, because the worst inequality we’ve ever seen is children dying from easily preventable causes.

“In the United States, we’ve invested primarily in education, because a good school is a key to success, but you’re less likely to have access to one if you’re low-income, a student of colour, or both.”

Discussing how individuals and, ultimately, the society, could be lifted out of poverty, Mr. and Mrs. Gates said, “If we hope to accelerate progress, we must address the inequality that separates the lucky from the unlucky.”

They explained why they focus on health and education, saying, “We plotted health and education because they are the key components of what economists call ‘human capital,’ which we highlighted in last year’s Goalkeepers Report as the best way for a country to unlock productivity and innovation, cut poverty, create opportunities, and generate prosperity.”

They noted that investments in human capital today help people to increase their incomes tomorrow.

“But without human capital — that is, for those who are unhealthy and uneducated — it is virtually impossible to escape poverty,” they warned.

[william lee]

[william lee]

Bill and Melinda Gates accept their privilege of being born in America to wealthy parents and claim that this was a crucial factor responsible for their ultimate success. They acknowledge that billions of people on the other side of the spectrum lacked the privileges that they had in throughout their lifetime. Human beings growing up in poorer regions statistically seem to have a higher percentage of obstacles to overcome in life to become successful in terms of modern standards. Such as a girl born in the Sahel, getting to a healthy, productive life requires overcoming hurdles after hurdle. Many countries may attempt to help countries by sending what they consider to be the best aid such as condoms during the Bush administration but that seems to be received by African leaders as condescending, which leads to the failure of the attempted aid. Therefore I believe that the solution is to be able to increase education as it is a key component for countries to unlock local productivity and economic prosperity and empower the individuals of African communities to cut poverty, create opportunities and generate prosperity. 

On Monday, September 23, 2019 at 5:39:54 AM UTC-5, anthony.a.akinola wrote:

[Biko Agozino]

The Goalkeepers missed a few balls that ended at the back of the net. One big one is the penalty kick of imperialism that continues to drain resources from Africa to develop Europe and North America. As we all know, Africa is the richest continent and yet it is impoverished by international exploitation and by phantom capitalists.

A set piece that the goalkeepers failed to save is the corner kick of inner city ghettoes in the US where children born in a rich country do not stand the chances of the children of white professors that Bill admitted he was privileged to experience. Yet, it does not follow that the inner city kids were doomed to die poor given that almost all the hall of famers in different lines continue to come from abject poverty. The poor continue to grow our food and are the majority of voters and so should not be seen pathologically only as problems to be solved by humanitarians who live off human beans the way vegetarians live off vegetables.

The third own goal by the goalkeepers is the silence about the hundreds of thousands of highly skilled immigrants in Europe and North America who are busy providing technical foreign aid to the developed countries in return for the huge remittances that they send back in amounts much more than foreign aid.

But the goalkeepers saved a few free kicks. We cannot go on without educating our children to the best of their abilities. Child marriage is pedophilia that parents can end by insisting on at least high school graduation before suitors can come. We can do this across Africa by erasing the colonial boundaries that divide and weaken us. The United Republic of African States will leverage the resources to fight illiteracy, disease, poverty and hunger across Africa.

Shame on Nigeria for being colored deep red along with the Sahel states despite the abundance of natural and human resources. Giant of Africa for mouth.

Biko

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[Michael Price]

It is difficult for children in low-income communities to succeed because they have a lack of role models, lack of exposure to books/ resources, and are a product of their environment. Bill and Melinda Gates understand how they are privileged because they were fortunate enough to have wealthy parents that raised them in a stable environment. Instead of being greedy billionaires, Bill and Melinda chose to invest in low income community's health and education. Bill and Melinda Gates chose those two factors specifically because they wanted to help "unlock productivity and innovation, cut poverty, create opportunities, and generate prosperity." 

" to unlock productivity and innovation, cut poverty, create opportunities, and generate prosperity.”

because they grew up by  because investing in low income communities to give them better educational opportunities. to because some people can't help the situation they are born in 

On Monday, September 23, 2019 at 5:39:54 AM UTC-5, anthony.a.akinola wrote:

[Michael Price]

It is difficult for children in low-income communities to succeed because they have a lack of role models, lack of exposure to books/ resources, and are a product of their environment. Bill and Melinda Gates understand how they are privileged because they were fortunate enough to have wealthy parents that raised them in a stable environment. Instead of being greedy billionaires, Bill and Melinda chose to invest in low income community's health and education. Bill and Melinda Gates chose those two factors specifically because they wanted to help "unlock productivity and innovation, cut poverty, create opportunities, and generate prosperity." 

Michael Price,

[Emeagwali, Gloria (History)]

Well this is a case where American citizenship is not a passport to wealth and high income.

Some may argue that Microsoft benefited from the Clinton administration’s visa program that facilitated cheaper hitech labor on a massive scale. The company has also been criticized for certain monopolistic policies.

It seems that the greatest benefit that Bill gained from his parents was not wealth but a passionate awareness of the obligations
of wealth and power. His dad was/ is a paragon of generosity.

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association
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Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: BILL GATES ON WEALTH AND POVERTY.

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It is difficult for children in low-income communities to succeed because they have a lack of role models, lack of exposure to books/ resources, and are a product of their environment. Bill and Melinda Gates understand how they are privileged because they were fortunate enough to have wealthy parents that raised them in a stable environment. Instead of being greedy billionaires, Bill and Melinda chose to invest in low income community's health and education. Bill and Melinda Gates chose those two factors specifically because they wanted to help "unlock productivity and innovation, cut poverty, create opportunities, and generate prosperity."

" to unlock productivity and innovation, cut poverty, create opportunities, and generate prosperity.”
because they grew up by because investing in low income communities to give them better educational opportunities. to because some people can't help the situation they are born in

On Monday, September 23, 2019 at 5:39:54 AM UTC-5, anthony.a.akinola wrote:

Our American citizenship, wealthy parents aid our success —Bill, Melinda Gates

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Bill and Melinda Gates. Web image
Billionaire couple, Bill and Melinda Gates, have said that being born American to wealthy parents are some of the factors that were responsible for their ultimate success.

In an introduction to The Goalkeepers 2019 Report<https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gatesfoundation.org%2Fgoalkeepers%2Freport%2F2019-report%2F%3Futm_source%3DGF%26utm_medium%3DTW%26utm_campaign%3DUNGA19%26utm_term%3DGLRPT%26utm_content%3DREP%26sf109158402%3D1%23ExaminingInequality&data=01%7C01%7Cemeagwali%40ccsu.edu%7Cab3c5327c0164d1e8dcc08d7426f5aaa%7C2329c570b5804223803b427d800e81b6%7C0&sdata=wZ7aejnffDWPmhGlssWe2UwTTa%2FOH8QeDtu1N8QiRiI%3D&reserved=0> — their foundation’s annual report card on the world’s progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, the Gateses noted that when individuals lack such privileges, their probability of being poor is high.

“We were born in a wealthy country to white, well-off parents who lived in thriving communities and were able to send us to excellent schools.
“These factors, among many others, put us in a great position to be successful,” the billionaire couple said.
They lament that there are billions of people on the other side of these dividing lines, however, noting, “For hundreds of millions of people around the world, hardship is all but guaranteed.”
They say that if one views life as a journey, every single disadvantage makes the journey harder; disclosing that, for them as Americans from wealthy homes, “Our path forward has been relatively clear of obstacles.”
This is not the same for persons born in poor countries to poor families, especially if they are female, the Gateses said.
“For a girl born in the Sahel, one of the poorest regions in the world, getting to a healthy, productive life requires overcoming hurdle after hurdle after hurdle,” they said; expressing disapproval for such a life.
“We believe that’s wrong. Every person should have an equal opportunity to lead a healthy, productive life,” they said.
Tracing their foundation’s activities, they said, “For the past 20 years, we’ve invested in health and development in low-income countries, because the worst inequality we’ve ever seen is children dying from easily preventable causes.
“In the United States, we’ve invested primarily in education, because a good school is a key to success, but you’re less likely to have access to one if you’re low-income, a student of colour, or both.”
Discussing how individuals and, ultimately, the society, could be lifted out of poverty, Mr. and Mrs. Gates said, “If we hope to accelerate progress, we must address the inequality that separates the lucky from the unlucky.”
They explained why they focus on health and education, saying, “We plotted health and education because they are the key components of what economists call ‘human capital,’ which we highlighted in last year’s Goalkeepers Report as the best way for a country to unlock productivity and innovation, cut poverty, create opportunities, and generate prosperity.”
They noted that investments in human capital today help people to increase their incomes tomorrow.
“But without human capital — that is, for those who are unhealthy and uneducated — it is virtually impossible to escape poverty,” they warned.

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[Nuhamin Bekalu]

Yes, Bill and Melinda Gates are right about health and education being key components of developing a better opportunity for underprivileged kids, but this is only the surface.  If we compare Bill and Melinda's opportunity with underprivileged kids that have their health and education provided, they are not one and the same.  We can clearly see this from even relating it to Maslow's hierarchy of needs.  Bill and Melinda have all reached a self-actualization point, while the underprivileged kids have only reached the point of safety.  I say this because Bill and Melinda had more than just education and safety provided to them.  They had networks, emotional support, and paths set for them by their parents.  These underprivileged kids do not get the chance at this lifestyle.  In hindsight, Bill and Melinda are correct in that without education and safety it is virtually impossible to escape poverty, but they definitely have a less of an opportunity than kids that grew up like Bill and Melinda. 

[josie milisci]

Throughout this article, Bill and Melinda Gates bring to light how difficult it is to overcome certain obstacles in life if someone is not privileged. They are aware of their privileges and wish to share their wealth and research with others in order to help those in poverty. Both Bill and Melinda were raised by functioning, finically comfortably parents and realize that this helped them succeed in life. From this, the Gates' hope to improve education for those in poverty while also improving the health of those living in poverty. They do note that change does not happen overnight, but that awareness, education, and research will help their cause. 

On Monday, September 23, 2019 at 5:39:54 AM UTC-5, anthony.a.akinola wrote:

[Sidnee Wilson]

There is an acknowledgement of a privilege of being both white and well off in this article by Bill Gates and his wife Melinda. They also acknowledge that those not white, or wealthy, and especially female, in America and around the world are at a disadvantage. There is also mention of the need for human capital, which is people who are healthy and educated, in order to create a more prosperous whole and I agree. It is nice to hear the privileged acknowledge their privilege rather than deny its presence out of fear, selfishness, or guilt. With that said, while their thoughts are valid and equality is necessary, it need not be confused with equity, which I believe should be the real goal. Everyone should not just get equal, but the playing field should be leveled first.

On Monday, September 23, 2019 at 5:39:54 AM UTC-5, anthony.a.akinola wrote:

[Ban-Jian Pan]

I agree with what Bill and Melinda Gates say about people being born in a poor region having many obstacles to overcome rather than someone that was born from a well off family. Having a good education is crucial in becoming successful in life but those living in the poorest countries out there, Sahel for example, education might not be accessible for everyone there. At this point even if they wanted education, it simply isn't there. Implementing a more efficient education program would definitely help those in the poorer parts of the world, but they would still have more obstacles to overcome than that of a well off family in America.

On Monday, September 23, 2019 at 5:39:54 AM UTC-5, anthony.a.akinola wrote:

[Gloria Emeagwali]

Classic triumphalism.

Sent from my iPhone

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