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Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates, Others Ante Up Another $30 Million To Change.org the World (fortune.com)
theodp writes: Fortune reports that LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman is "leading a $30 million funding round in Change.org, a for-profit petition and fundraising website focused on social and political change." Joining Hoffman in this round, as well as an earlier $25 million round in 2014, is Bill Gates. Change.org, Hoffman explained in a Friday LinkedIn post, "helps enable a world where you don't need to hire a lobbyist to have real impact on the issues and policies that matter to you." He added, "In its decade of existence, Change.org petitions have resulted in more than 21,000 victories, i.e., instances in which a government agency, corporation, or other entity has changed a regulation or a policy in the face of a Change.org petition urging it to do so." Last year, Hoffman joined Gates and some of the biggest names in tech and corporate America who threw their weight behind a Change.org petition that tried to get Congress to fund K-12 Computer Science education. The Change.org petition fell short of its 150,000-signature goal despite claims of support from 90% of the parents of the nation's 58 million K-12 schoolchildren (based on a Google-funded survey of 1,685 parents), widespread press coverage (including a full-page ad in petition signer Jeff Bezos's Washington Post), lobbying efforts by the tech coalition that organized the petition (which counts LinkedIn and Microsoft among its members), and even some free PR from Change.org.
Well that all depends on what Bill Gates is getting out of it. A lot of his "philanthropic" endeavors are really just tax dodges which are intended to benefit himself more than who he's claiming to help. Or to entrench Microsoft in developing nations. I'll applaud him when he gives without expecting anything in return.
Somehow, Slashdot readers will spin this as a reason to criticize Bill Gates.
Well that all depends on what Bill Gates is getting out of it... I'll applaud him when he gives without expecting anything in return.
It's always good for the tech industry to get more programmers applying. I think I agree with both of you - this seems to help the companies contributing, but I don't necessarily see anything wrong with the market wanting more workers that can do the job. I'd rather a kid study programming that complaining there's no coal jerbs any more.
If they cared about these issues, as opposed to wanting to pretend to care, they could be doing more than asking others to commit more than an insignificant percentage of their own net worth to the issue.
Rule 35 of the internet: "If it can be hacked, it will be". - Charles Stross
The raw number of victories on any issues is the significant measure of effectiveness. Cost per petition is tiny, and diversity increases impact as well as traffic and exposure for all petitions. Global scope means it isn't tied up in the American political gang wars. For instance, The fight against slavery in Mauritania benefits from exposure to those in nations that enforce peace and human rights. Those who could end it don't because they think it doesn't hurt them, but a sign of international will scares them into action. Force always follows awareness, and that applies all the way from economic to military intervention.
I'm confused by this. Everything Bill Gates does can of course be spun as a selfish tax dodge, but surely it's a good thing that he's given away $28Bn (so far) on education and health. I mean this is a guy who can buy himself a few countries if he wanted to, and instead he's working hard to try and make the world a better place for others. I just don't see what's this amazing selfish return he's getting that requires him to give away 28 BILLION dollars. It must be something pretty amazing ... Why should we care if he's only doing this as a tax dodge as long as good is being done? I don't care about his motives being pure as driven snow, he's not a saint and afaik doesn't claim to be one. Surely his actions give him enough air cover regarding the good he's doing.