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Melinda Gates Pledges $560 Million For Contraception

Posted by samzenpus on from the greater-good dept.

theodp writes "Melinda Gates has pledged $560 million as part of a campaign to expand access to contraception for women. From the article: 'The funding commitment was unveiled on Wednesday at the London Summit on Family Planning alongside pledges totaling $4.3 billion from the British government and leaders from African nations wrestling with the health and social problems brought on by high rates of unplanned pregnancy.'"

23 of 451 comments (clear)

  1. Buying Windows does some good in the world! by Art+Popp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Kidding aside.

    She and her husband continue to show the best side of capitalism. For those that assume that wealth necessarily leads to avarice, it's delightful to me to see the Gates Foundation making that case more difficult to prove.

    To hear her explain the contraception issue:

    http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/415947/june-27-2012/melinda-gates

    1. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      She and her husband continue to show the best side of capitalism.

      Err, it's not capitalism at all. It's charity. Charity is a bandaid over the wounds of capitalism.

      Of course it's better to do this than to squander the money, just as it's right to help up a man who keeps falling over. But you're still treating the symptom, not the cause.

    2. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by ACTA+sucks · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What marketing does Bill and Melinda Gates need? It's not like they're marketing for Microsoft - they're giving away their own money to help the world. Could you be any more selfish and bitter? What do you do for the good of the world?

    3. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by Rockoon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The best marketing half a billion dollars can buy?

      Take the tinfoil off.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    4. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by ciderbrew · · Score: 4, Funny

      Erm - I don't think not fucking is going to happen. The cause is for most normal people, immutable.
      My TAX money is going towards this. One part of me asks why I have to support this. But the even louder part says, could I really ask as a guy not to fuck because he lives in a poor place with no chance of getting out. Fucking is the only free fun he has. If I have to pay the price of a beer once a year so some people can fuck and not die then I'm really ok with that.
      Here have two beers and fuck her one from me.

    5. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by geekymachoman · · Score: 5, Informative

      Here's an article not related to contraception, but related to Gates foundation. It would be insightful read, since no one bothers anymore to research any topic by himself, before he forms an opinion..

      http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/07/the_gates_foundations_leverage.html

    6. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by geekymachoman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What marketing does Bill and Melinda Gates need? It's not like they're marketing for Microsoft - they're giving away their own money to help the world. Could you be any more selfish and bitter? What do you do for the good of the world?

      And if you think that the only way to do good for the world is with money(seems there are entire cultures based on this - money is your god idea), then no wonder this planet's becoming a shit hole.
      What happened to just being good to each other, self sacrifice.. about actually "giving" and caring for people ? Maybe the guy you said this to is doing exactly that, but I guess that doesn't count in your eyes, yes ?

      There are many ways in which you can do good.
      Don't fall for strict left/right, good/bad, good guys/bad guys philosophy of thinking. Everything matters. The only difference between us is that some people may do more to help, while other less, but that doesn't mean anything. We're collectively evolving and we're in a same boat, each every one of us.

    7. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by Tom · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And the solution to capitalism is?

      Realizing that capitalism is an economic system, not a religion. It does not cover all of human existence nor all of societies needs. It covers the production and distribution of for-profit goods and services, and that is it.

      Art, health care, police, firefighters and other disaster prevention, education, public transport, communications, housing and other basics (energy, water, food, etc.) go beyond what capitalism can provide. This is where the better mix is some parts capitalism, some parts something else - whatever you want to call it.

      Unless, of course, you agree that people dying of thirst in the streets because the market has set an optimal price point for water above what they can afford is the kind of world you want to live in. Or that the thieves go free if they pay the police more than you do.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    8. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by Tom · · Score: 4, Informative

      Wrong assumption there, buddy. Turns out that poor people give more to charity than rich people.

      The Gates are a positive example, among the rich. Relatively speaking, they aren't that much more charitable than the 99%. So your question is addressed at the wrong audience.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    9. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Small scale tribal communities will only scale well after an apocalypse.. And even then, they'll amount to bully-rules, as they always have. Something like the Taliban or the Pentacostals always turns up.

    10. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by flyneye · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you're gettng none , you're not doing it right.
      Go to bar, chat up each and every girl that strikes your libido. Ask each and every one a few minutes in, if they'd like to have a drink and a movie back at your place. Don't worry about hearing "NO", you're going to, a lot. But that evening, there will be one who thinks it's a good idea and she knows she's gonna get cocked, she just doesn't want to come right out and ask you, women leave it to you. Your job now, is to apply more alcohol till she will do things she wouldn't normally do. Not too much, or they don't participate well.
      Don't approach this as though you were looking for a life partner, it's a bar, they are just looking for cock, not to marry a drunk. Quit worrying about being very romantic about it. They are there for sex, not love, just like you.
      Can you believe it? They wouldn't let me put this on Wikihow!

      --
      *Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
    11. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by ooshna · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think that $560 million can do a lot more for the world than if I volunteered at a soup kitchen. Sure I might make that homeless guys day but they can improve exponentially more lives than I can with that money. And I believe that until resource/energy sarcity is a thing of the past large somes of money put to good use in the right places will make a bigger impact on the world than what an individual can. You might be willing to donate your time and work hard but you have to pay for supplies. Your points are valid but don't try to take away from all the good the Gates do just because they are doing it with money.

    12. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by moeinvt · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Capitalism would do a better job with education, housing and healthcare if government would stop introducing massive distortions in the market.

      The three most dysfunctional sectors of our economy from the standpoint of the consumer are housing, higher education and healthcare. Skyrocketing costs for healthcare and education. Students and mortgage borrowers awash in debt with under-valued assets (homes and useless degrees). Millions unable to access basic medical services. Poor price/quality tradeoffs. This is not because "capitalism has failed", it is because government has decided that their central planners can "manage" these things better than the market. They have failed miserably as all central planning systems do.

      Art? Are you F***ing kidding? You're saying that painting, sculpture, theater, music and film would cease to exist without the power of governments? LOL The free market has produced some quite amazing advances in medical technology. If the government would stop its practice of mandates, price controls, cost shifting and barriers to competition, medical services would once again be affordable. Education? Plenty of excellent private schools. If you want the service, pay for it. The free market has been superb with communications. Look at the evolution of cell phone technology. Steadily smaller, faster, cheaper and more capable. Thank $deity government isn't in the cell phone business. Housing? Another government clusterf***. We have an over-abundance of cheap food and I'm confident that we could ensure that people don't die of thirst without having men with guns confiscating our wealth and throwing us in prison.

    13. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Insightful

      exactly

      capitalism is a beast of burden. yolk it and you can plough your land and do great things. let it loose and it runs roughshod over your farm, breaking everything

      you don't worship capitalism, you put it to work: you siphon off the excess capital and do some good with it. what's the alternative? richie rich getting another mansion?

      not that there shouldn't be rich people. but they are rich because of the society they are in. so that society needs to be taken care of

      --
      intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    14. Re:Buying Windows does some good in the world! by Tom · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It all depends on how you skin the cat.

      Tell you what, give me 100 times more money than I could ever spend in my lifetime even if I bathed in champagne each morning, paid my kitchen maid escort fees and never used the same helicopter twice - and I wouldn't even flinch when you ask me to part with half of it.

      Now give me an average family that barely makes ends meet and has been saving for a new car for two years, and tell me again that they are not charitable if they give as much as a buck.

      Who gave more in absolute terms? The rich guy.
      Who gave more in relative wealth? The rich guy.
      Who actually felt the loss?

      Look, let's get away from Gates, who quite frankly is an asshole who abuses even his Foundation to drive out competition and control markets, and let me say that I do think rich people giving to charity is a good thing.

      I just don't think that it deserves headlines when many people sacrifice more to give to others and don't get any mention in the news.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
  2. Philanthropy by dark+grep · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Many may well consider such acts of philanthropy completely altruistic. Whether you agree with the cause or not, only the most cynical of people would view it as 'marketing' or 'self promotion', and even if it actually is that; so what? The people who will benefit from it wont care - it doesn't matter what the motivation for doing it is, the end result is what is important.

    Personally, I think the motivation is truly altruistic and comes from a genuine desire to do good in the world. The point I would make is; anyone 'richer than God' is going to acquire the same philosophy. Why are mega rich people altruistic? Because they can be. When every conceivable want and desire is met, what is left but to be generous to your fellow man?

    I for one would welcome the opportunity to do exactly that myself. If only I had some software I could sell to IBM.

  3. Re:She is not a good person after all. by bloodhawk · · Score: 4, Informative

    The sad thing is you're probably serious and worse yet there are plenty of nutjobs in the world that support your view. This charitable donation is a big step forward for the affected people and is definitely a step towards clawing their way out of poverty.

  4. Re:She is not a good person after all. by SuricouRaven · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You appear to be confusing contraception with abortion. While abortion is an issue still much debated, the ethics of contraception are more-or-less settled now for everyone except the Catholic church and a few other religious groups, and even they don't equate it with murder.

  5. Re:False by Theophany · · Score: 5, Funny

    You forget our lord and saviour....

  6. Re:False by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    You forget our lord and saviour....

    That was just a sampling error.

  7. Re:What would YOU do? by Tom · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, if you were in the Gate's position, how would YOU spend your money for the common good?

    Give it back to the people I stole it from through monopoly rent and hope that at least some of the additional damage I've done to the economy can still be undone.

    Do Economy 101 again and listen carefully on the part about monopolies.

    --
    Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
  8. This is the only thing that can save Africa by Hentes · · Score: 4, Interesting

    While many say that there are great famines in Africa, they still have the fastest growing population among the continents. The biggest problem of Africa is overpopulation.

  9. The conversation by XB-70 · · Score: 4, Funny
    Melinda: "Bill, I need some money for contraception."

    Bill: "But, Honey, we already have three kids and we can afford as many more as we'd like."

    Melinda: "It's the masses. They're clogging up the roads."

    Bill: "But, we have helicopters."

    Melinda: "They're breeding like locusts. Soon, there will be nothing left of the planet."

    Bill: "Then, we'll have it all to ourselves."

    Melinda: "No one will be left to by Microsoft products."

    Bill: "Here's 590 Million."

    --
    *** Don't be dull.***