I wonder if Ms. Gates will set up her own philanthropy orgs with her share of the Gates fortune like Mackenzie Scott did with the Bezos fortune. At least some good will come of these assholes wealth.
Why so dismissive of the Gates Foundation?
They both pledged to give nearly all of their wealth to the Gates foundation. I think the plan was to leave each of their kids with $10 million and the rest goes to philanthropy.
Unless there is something pretty ironclad legally, plans to give up that kind of wealth are worth exactly as much weight as the volume of air used to speak them.
They've already given about $40 billion to it.
At the current rate of donations to earnings, I believe I read something to the effect that the Gates' would have to live literal centuries to reach their stated goal re: remaining wealth.
It's a good example of why there's a degree of wealth that should be illegal.
I figure it's less that the degree of wealth is illegal and more that the things you have to do to get that wealthy in the first place should be illegal.
Even if it were possible to be a billionaire without exploitation in some form (it's not), it is an empirical fact that extreme wealth is harmful to society and shouldn't be allowed. Waiting until their death to tax it isn't enough because they still spent a lifetime having more money than they could ever spend while children starve.
Even back when I was conservative I never gave Gates too much credit for his philanthropy. For decades he's talked a big game about giving his wealth away upon death and trying to convince other billionaires to do the same but why? If you think giving it away is actually the morally just thing to do then why wait? He could liquidate and give away 90% of his wealth and it wouldn't affect his lifestyle in the slightest.
Gates is a piece of shit and in hindsight I'm not surprised it's also turning out he's a creep.
I agree there is pretty much no ethical way to become a billionaire. There might be one or two exceptions but they are going to be extreme hypotheticals and probably not stand up to too much scrutiny.
People forget that 90s Gates was basically an amalgam of Bezos corporate policies and Zuckerbergs alien in a skin suit / dont tell me what to do personality. The Gates Foundation did always seem more like a PR / whitewashing campaign but I was somewhat willing to accept it if it was actually doing good - more than most billionaires do after all.
But yeah, clearly Gates didn't change that much which isn't a huge surprise.
Someone quite a while posted a chart of the various societal stratification that separated out worker/ manager / social / wealth classes and tiers, but basically said the top wealth tier is small and pretty much universally evil. Even if they aren't personally evil, they hobnob with dictators who wouldn't hesitate to have someone vivisected with a bone saw or rapists, molesters, and other monsters.
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BlackDragon480Bluster KerfuffleMaster of Windy ImportRegistered Userregular
Steve Jobs was a different type of asshole, perhaps.
Yeah, Gates never disavowed his own children, for one egregious example of Jobs' dickishness.
It's one thing to simply disavow, it's another to claim in court that you were impotent for the entire relationship with the mother and you couldn't possibly be the father, and no you won't submit to a paternity test.
No matter where you go...there you are. ~ Buckaroo Banzai
It turns out that a system that actively rewards sociopathic behaviour means that most billionaires are absolutely inexcusable fucking jerkwank shitbags.
There’s probably a lot of people out there who could have been billionaires, but they were mentally normal and when they realized they could sell their business for $10 million and live a life of luxury and ease for the rest of their lives, they did so. You have to be a special kind of megalomaniac to keep working when you have a billion dollars.
There’s probably a lot of people out there who could have been billionaires, but they were mentally normal and when they realized they could sell their business for $10 million and live a life of luxury and ease for the rest of their lives, they did so. You have to be a special kind of megalomaniac to keep working when you have a billion dollars.
I wonder if Ms. Gates will set up her own philanthropy orgs with her share of the Gates fortune like Mackenzie Scott did with the Bezos fortune. At least some good will come of these assholes wealth.
Why so dismissive of the Gates Foundation?
They both pledged to give nearly all of their wealth to the Gates foundation. I think the plan was to leave each of their kids with $10 million and the rest goes to philanthropy.
Unless there is something pretty ironclad legally, plans to give up that kind of wealth are worth exactly as much weight as the volume of air used to speak them.
They've already given about $40 billion to it.
At the current rate of donations to earnings, I believe I read something to the effect that the Gates' would have to live literal centuries to reach their stated goal re: remaining wealth.
It's a good example of why there's a degree of wealth that should be illegal.
I figure it's less that the degree of wealth is illegal and more that the things you have to do to get that wealthy in the first place should be illegal.
Even if it were possible to be a billionaire without exploitation in some form (it's not), it is an empirical fact that extreme wealth is harmful to society and shouldn't be allowed. Waiting until their death to tax it isn't enough because they still spent a lifetime having more money than they could ever spend while children starve.
Even back when I was conservative I never gave Gates too much credit for his philanthropy. For decades he's talked a big game about giving his wealth away upon death and trying to convince other billionaires to do the same but why? If you think giving it away is actually the morally just thing to do then why wait? He could liquidate and give away 90% of his wealth and it wouldn't affect his lifestyle in the slightest.
Gates is a piece of shit and in hindsight I'm not surprised it's also turning out he's a creep.
Because the point isn't "it would effect my lifestyle", it's "I would no longer control the money". And not in the sense of having the most toys (or not just that), but even if you are just intending to use that money to help others or make the world a better place, who better to decide how that should happen then you?
The core of billionaire-run charity foundations is basically always using money to get around the political process and directly exert control over whatever issue you feel you know how to solve.
There’s probably a lot of people out there who could have been billionaires, but they were mentally normal and when they realized they could sell their business for $10 million and live a life of luxury and ease for the rest of their lives, they did so. You have to be a special kind of megalomaniac to keep working when you have a billion dollars.
What, you don't think it was noble of Jobs to die alone in his office working to try to add an extra zero to his net worth hours before his inevitable death?
Its probably more a sort of stability inertia. Change is hard, even when you have money. You're working and each day you get to get up and have a relatively set agenda of what to do. Its easy to continue in that vein when nothing knocks you out of it. And you're a billionaire CEO so nothing is going to knock you out of it.
Remember that time western medicine made his cancer go into remission, then when it came back later, he decided he was smarter than all the doctors and it was obvious that homeopathy was the real cure, then he died alone working in his office?
Steve jobs death is one of the all time great self-owns in the history of billionaires
Edit: I probably have these details wrong because why would I care enough to know what really happened to Steve jobs? The important thing is, he was a billionaire, and now he is dead.
But the Microsoft mogul may have been angling for another perk by networking with Epstein: Gates hoped the well-connected pervert could help him secure the Nobel Peace Prize, one former Gates Foundation employee told The Daily Beast.
This person said members of the foundation’s communications team were alerted to Gates’ relationship with Epstein and were told it “was a maneuver to try to get himself a Nobel Peace Prize.” They said the tech mogul had even kept some employees on call on prize day in years past just in case he was awarded the distinction.
“We were aware of things that were potential reputational risks for the foundation and the co-chairs, Bill and Melinda,” said the former employee. “Even back then, people knew this guy wasn’t squeaky clean,” the person said, referring to Epstein.
“He [Gates] thought that Jeffrey would be able to help him, that he would know the right people, or some kind of way to massage things, so he could get the Nobel Peace Prize, which is what Bill wants more than anything else in the world,” the staffer said.
“I think he was ultimately disappointed it didn’t work out,” the person added.
Describing a convicted pedophile as being a person who "wasn't squeaky clean" is a good example of why Epstein could get away with shit
It also shows how many people are willing to just ignore that because they really want something useless like a Nobel Peace Prize
A Nobel is something his insane wealth can't buy, so I'm not surprised that "what lengths would you go to to get one?" includes "hobnob with sex traffickers".
Just remember that half the people you meet are below average intelligence.
If Bill Gates couldn't get a Nobel with his impressive philanthropy, hobnobbing with sex criminals isn't going to get him one. Gates was a rube if he thought Epstein had any real power. Maybe he could pressure a nomination, but the whole committee isn't going to be pedos.
I think much more likely that Bill Gates, ultimately quite a nerd, wanted a taste of Epstein's dissolute lifestyle and I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up with young girls.
But the Microsoft mogul may have been angling for another perk by networking with Epstein: Gates hoped the well-connected pervert could help him secure the Nobel Peace Prize, one former Gates Foundation employee told The Daily Beast.
This person said members of the foundation’s communications team were alerted to Gates’ relationship with Epstein and were told it “was a maneuver to try to get himself a Nobel Peace Prize.” They said the tech mogul had even kept some employees on call on prize day in years past just in case he was awarded the distinction.
“We were aware of things that were potential reputational risks for the foundation and the co-chairs, Bill and Melinda,” said the former employee. “Even back then, people knew this guy wasn’t squeaky clean,” the person said, referring to Epstein.
“He [Gates] thought that Jeffrey would be able to help him, that he would know the right people, or some kind of way to massage things, so he could get the Nobel Peace Prize, which is what Bill wants more than anything else in the world,” the staffer said.
“I think he was ultimately disappointed it didn’t work out,” the person added.
Describing a convicted pedophile as being a person who "wasn't squeaky clean" is a good example of why Epstein could get away with shit
It also shows how many people are willing to just ignore that because they really want something useless like a Nobel Peace Prize
“Some kind of way to massage things” is... I think... a purposeful phrase
Honestly think Epstein could help one get a Nobel is a good example of how good a con he was.....or how widespread his pedo/sex trafficking extended........
The Nobel Peace Price committee is made up of retired Norwegian Parliamentary politicians as per Alfred Nobel's will. Its a sinecure for hasbeens. They are not the Jetset elite by any standard, not even Norwegian ones. At best they are a big fish in a very small Norwegian Pond. They wouldn't be a part of his network because nobody would consider them important enough to be a part of any network. If they where, they wouldn't be on the committee.
Epstein ran in so different circles, that asking him to influence them is like asking the pope to get your McDonalds order.
If that is Bills excuse, he is either lying or terminally dense.
The sky was full of stars, every star an exploding ship. One of ours.
The Nobel Peace Price committee is made up of retired Norwegian Parliamentary politicians as per Alfred Nobel's will. Its a sinecure for hasbeens. They are not the Jetset elite by any standard, not even Norwegian ones. At best they are a big fish in a very small Norwegian Pond. They wouldn't be a part of his network because nobody would consider them important enough to be a part of any network. If they where, they wouldn't be on the committee.
Epstein ran in so different circles, that asking him to influence them is like asking the pope to get your McDonalds order.
If that is Bills excuse, he is either lying or terminally dense.
Wouldn't that make it easier for Epstein to get his hooks in if he wanted?
Yeah, exactly the kind of people you as a billionaire philanthropist don't regularly meet and even more rarely meet the people who can influence them.
But Epstein is definitely someone who would look into doing that for a favour and probably would have had some success (knowing the right people who can introduce you to the right people).
I can easily believe it was an honest request, and that Epstein would have said he could do it. Reflects really poorly on Gates though, that the Foundations work wasn't enough.
He needed a badge to say it was worth it.
Tastyfish on
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RingoHe/Hima distinct lack of substanceRegistered Userregular
Yeah, exactly the kind of people you as a billionaire philanthropist don't regularly meet and even more rarely meet the people who can influence them.
But Epstein is definitely someone who would look into doing that for a favour and probably would have had some success (knowing the right people who can introduce you to the right people).
I can easily believe it was an honest request, and that Epstein would have said he could do it. Reflects really poorly on Gates though, that the Foundations work wasn't enough.
He needed a badge to say it was worth it.
I think it says more that Gates wanted the badge and only pursued philanthropy as a way to attain it
Yeah, exactly the kind of people you as a billionaire philanthropist don't regularly meet and even more rarely meet the people who can influence them.
But Epstein is definitely someone who would look into doing that for a favour and probably would have had some success (knowing the right people who can introduce you to the right people).
I can easily believe it was an honest request, and that Epstein would have said he could do it. Reflects really poorly on Gates though, that the Foundations work wasn't enough.
He needed a badge to say it was worth it.
I think it says more that Gates wanted the badge and only pursued philanthropy as a way to attain it
Which is covered generally as part of the other philanthropy thread.
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VanguardBut now the dream is over. And the insect is awake.Registered User, __BANNED USERSregular
The suspicious part of my mind wonders why they would be offered a deal if there wasn't something more than just falsifying records to avoid seeming lazy.
The suspicious part of my mind wonders why they would be offered a deal if there wasn't something more than just falsifying records to avoid seeming lazy.
People accused of crimes are commonly offered deals in order to avoid the expense of a trial
The suspicious part of my mind wonders why they would be offered a deal if there wasn't something more than just falsifying records to avoid seeming lazy.
People accused of crimes are commonly offered deals in order to avoid the expense of a trial
Yeah if they just criminally fraudulent filed paperwork a plea deal is the least surprising thing.
Got caught CYA when CYA is a crime? Yeah this of course looks dirty but it would also be completely expected from day to day halfassed shittiness
And when I say “expense of a trial” I mean man-hours that go into trial prep too, it would be silly to turn some falsified paperwork into the Trial of the Century
The fact that a deal was offered means less than nothing, more than 97% of federal criminal convictions are plea deals, it would honestly be weirder if this ended up in court
Yep, some guards were lazy and forged documentation so they wouldn’t seem lazy when somebody they were supposed to guard killed themself
We already knew this, they were pencil whipping the paperwork and ignoring numerous duties, not just ones related to Epstein.
The only change is that now they've formally admitted it and the case against them is now complete, so the media doesn't need to say "allegedly" in every sentence.
This is never going away is it? It's gonna be the new kenedy assassination wherein we have people debating the probable vs the improbable, whether his death was due to stunning negligence or a shadowy cabal moving against him.
God damn am I not looking forward to the next 30 years of this shit.
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daveNYCWhy universe hate Waspinator?Registered Userregular
This is never going away is it? It's gonna be the new kenedy assassination wherein we have people debating the probable vs the improbable, whether his death was due to stunning negligence or a shadowy cabal moving against him.
God damn am I not looking forward to the next 30 years of this shit.
It’ll get worse if Ghislaine names names. It won’t be a vague list of nebulous groups gunning for Kennedy over policy decisions or whatever, it’ll be a bunch of proper nouns who had very concrete reasons for wanting Epstein to never speak again. We’ll need a dedicated Epstein Conspiracy thread or something.
Shut up, Mr. Burton! You were not brought upon this world to get it!
The Nobel Peace Price committee is made up of retired Norwegian Parliamentary politicians as per Alfred Nobel's will. Its a sinecure for hasbeens. They are not the Jetset elite by any standard, not even Norwegian ones. At best they are a big fish in a very small Norwegian Pond. They wouldn't be a part of his network because nobody would consider them important enough to be a part of any network. If they where, they wouldn't be on the committee.
Epstein ran in so different circles, that asking him to influence them is like asking the pope to get your McDonalds order.
If that is Bills excuse, he is either lying or terminally dense.
Wouldn't that make it easier for Epstein to get his hooks in if he wanted?
The exact opposite. Him trying to contact them would send up red flares to all who knew about it. Even the hint of impropriety would get a member shitcanned, so it would be the deathknell of any nomination by association. There have been members set out to pasture for less. The Committee chairman that awarded Obama the Peace Prize was "retired" because it was considered lowering the standards for example. At least that was the behind the scenes rumors.
Epstein claiming to have connection to make it happened is another matter. But actual corruption is watched for by the Nobel Organisation like hawks, they know the credibility of their award is based on the honesty of it.
The sky was full of stars, every star an exploding ship. One of ours.
The Nobel Peace Price committee is made up of retired Norwegian Parliamentary politicians as per Alfred Nobel's will. Its a sinecure for hasbeens. They are not the Jetset elite by any standard, not even Norwegian ones. At best they are a big fish in a very small Norwegian Pond. They wouldn't be a part of his network because nobody would consider them important enough to be a part of any network. If they where, they wouldn't be on the committee.
Epstein ran in so different circles, that asking him to influence them is like asking the pope to get your McDonalds order.
If that is Bills excuse, he is either lying or terminally dense.
Wouldn't that make it easier for Epstein to get his hooks in if he wanted?
The exact opposite. Him trying to contact them would send up red flares to all who knew about it. Even the hint of impropriety would get a member shitcanned, so it would be the deathknell of any nomination by association. There have been members set out to pasture for less. The Committee chairman that awarded Obama the Peace Prize was "retired" because it was considered lowering the standards for example. At least that was the behind the scenes rumors.
Epstein claiming to have connection to make it happened is another matter. But actual corruption is watched for by the Nobel Organisation like hawks, they know the credibility of their award is based on the honesty of it.
Like I said earlier, the only way this works is if Epstien is doing the friend of a friend thing, but that's the equivelant of trying to get in contact with the mafia through a manager at Little Caesar's.
Frankly It'd be easier and more believable for him to claim he didn't realize how young these girls were.
This is never going away is it? It's gonna be the new kenedy assassination wherein we have people debating the probable vs the improbable, whether his death was due to stunning negligence or a shadowy cabal moving against him.
God damn am I not looking forward to the next 30 years of this shit.
It’ll get worse if Ghislaine names names. It won’t be a vague list of nebulous groups gunning for Kennedy over policy decisions or whatever, it’ll be a bunch of proper nouns who had very concrete reasons for wanting Epstein to never speak again. We’ll need a dedicated Epstein Conspiracy thread or something.
If it’s a real conspiracy, she won’t, because she’d be too scared.
Posts
Even if it were possible to be a billionaire without exploitation in some form (it's not), it is an empirical fact that extreme wealth is harmful to society and shouldn't be allowed. Waiting until their death to tax it isn't enough because they still spent a lifetime having more money than they could ever spend while children starve.
Even back when I was conservative I never gave Gates too much credit for his philanthropy. For decades he's talked a big game about giving his wealth away upon death and trying to convince other billionaires to do the same but why? If you think giving it away is actually the morally just thing to do then why wait? He could liquidate and give away 90% of his wealth and it wouldn't affect his lifestyle in the slightest.
Gates is a piece of shit and in hindsight I'm not surprised it's also turning out he's a creep.
Because Bill's exploits are now showing, he was much a bigger asshole than Jobs.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Yeah, Gates never disavowed his own children, for one egregious example of Jobs' dickishness.
People forget that 90s Gates was basically an amalgam of Bezos corporate policies and Zuckerbergs alien in a skin suit / dont tell me what to do personality. The Gates Foundation did always seem more like a PR / whitewashing campaign but I was somewhat willing to accept it if it was actually doing good - more than most billionaires do after all.
But yeah, clearly Gates didn't change that much which isn't a huge surprise.
Someone quite a while posted a chart of the various societal stratification that separated out worker/ manager / social / wealth classes and tiers, but basically said the top wealth tier is small and pretty much universally evil. Even if they aren't personally evil, they hobnob with dictators who wouldn't hesitate to have someone vivisected with a bone saw or rapists, molesters, and other monsters.
It's one thing to simply disavow, it's another to claim in court that you were impotent for the entire relationship with the mother and you couldn't possibly be the father, and no you won't submit to a paternity test.
~ Buckaroo Banzai
MySpace Tom is the ur-example here.
Because the point isn't "it would effect my lifestyle", it's "I would no longer control the money". And not in the sense of having the most toys (or not just that), but even if you are just intending to use that money to help others or make the world a better place, who better to decide how that should happen then you?
The core of billionaire-run charity foundations is basically always using money to get around the political process and directly exert control over whatever issue you feel you know how to solve.
What, you don't think it was noble of Jobs to die alone in his office working to try to add an extra zero to his net worth hours before his inevitable death?
Steve jobs death is one of the all time great self-owns in the history of billionaires
Edit: I probably have these details wrong because why would I care enough to know what really happened to Steve jobs? The important thing is, he was a billionaire, and now he is dead.
EDIT: Also tax laws.
Yes, this is true.
Keep discussion in this thread focused on the sex trafficking ring
It also shows how many people are willing to just ignore that because they really want something useless like a Nobel Peace Prize
I think much more likely that Bill Gates, ultimately quite a nerd, wanted a taste of Epstein's dissolute lifestyle and I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up with young girls.
“Some kind of way to massage things” is... I think... a purposeful phrase
Or both
Epstein ran in so different circles, that asking him to influence them is like asking the pope to get your McDonalds order.
If that is Bills excuse, he is either lying or terminally dense.
Doesn't change the fact that Bill was a blithering dumbass if he thought his best route was through a jet setting pimp.
Wouldn't that make it easier for Epstein to get his hooks in if he wanted?
But Epstein is definitely someone who would look into doing that for a favour and probably would have had some success (knowing the right people who can introduce you to the right people).
I can easily believe it was an honest request, and that Epstein would have said he could do it. Reflects really poorly on Gates though, that the Foundations work wasn't enough.
He needed a badge to say it was worth it.
I think it says more that Gates wanted the badge and only pursued philanthropy as a way to attain it
Which is covered generally as part of the other philanthropy thread.
Tweeter is a White House reporter
Hmmmmmmmmmm
Hmmmmmm
Sounds ... plausible.
People accused of crimes are commonly offered deals in order to avoid the expense of a trial
Yeah if they just criminally fraudulent filed paperwork a plea deal is the least surprising thing.
Got caught CYA when CYA is a crime? Yeah this of course looks dirty but it would also be completely expected from day to day halfassed shittiness
The fact that a deal was offered means less than nothing, more than 97% of federal criminal convictions are plea deals, it would honestly be weirder if this ended up in court
We already knew this, they were pencil whipping the paperwork and ignoring numerous duties, not just ones related to Epstein.
The only change is that now they've formally admitted it and the case against them is now complete, so the media doesn't need to say "allegedly" in every sentence.
This is never going away is it? It's gonna be the new kenedy assassination wherein we have people debating the probable vs the improbable, whether his death was due to stunning negligence or a shadowy cabal moving against him.
God damn am I not looking forward to the next 30 years of this shit.
It’ll get worse if Ghislaine names names. It won’t be a vague list of nebulous groups gunning for Kennedy over policy decisions or whatever, it’ll be a bunch of proper nouns who had very concrete reasons for wanting Epstein to never speak again. We’ll need a dedicated Epstein Conspiracy thread or something.
The exact opposite. Him trying to contact them would send up red flares to all who knew about it. Even the hint of impropriety would get a member shitcanned, so it would be the deathknell of any nomination by association. There have been members set out to pasture for less. The Committee chairman that awarded Obama the Peace Prize was "retired" because it was considered lowering the standards for example. At least that was the behind the scenes rumors.
Epstein claiming to have connection to make it happened is another matter. But actual corruption is watched for by the Nobel Organisation like hawks, they know the credibility of their award is based on the honesty of it.
Like I said earlier, the only way this works is if Epstien is doing the friend of a friend thing, but that's the equivelant of trying to get in contact with the mafia through a manager at Little Caesar's.
Frankly It'd be easier and more believable for him to claim he didn't realize how young these girls were.
If it’s a real conspiracy, she won’t, because she’d be too scared.