Comment by wallace_f | Hacker News Reader

Comment by wallace_f | Hacker News Reader

It is an envious position to be in where you can positively impact such an incomprehensible number of human lives in the best of ways.

It's incredibly heart warming how many people have been saved by the Gates Foundation. Although, the realist in me worries about the possibility that in the long-run, civil liberties and human rights are also of importance to humanity in saving human lives, and human dignity.

Without going into an argument about the relative importance, shouldn't at least some significant portion be distributed towards solving the human and civil rights, liberties, and justice abuses here in America?

After all, the reason Bill Gates and Buffet are in a position to be able to help so many people is due the world they grew up in. The opportunities they were given. A large part of that is individual human liberty. Had Gates lived in another time, and been arbitrarily detained during one of his two arrests for refusing to unlock his electronic devices, would he have encountered a legal battle that derailed his entrepreneurship? If he was a minority, would the police had treated him the same way? If he was abused by the police the way Ian Murdock allegedly was, what would have happened to Gates? Would we have lost the opportunity to save 122 million lives to date through the Gates foundation?

> Without going into an argument about the relative importance, shouldn't at least some significant portion be distributed towards solving the human and civil rights, liberties, and justice abuses here in America?

I would guess that a country with stable institutions, high GDP per capita value, democracy and the highest absolute military spending this issue could be addressed in the ballot box. In the richest democracies on earth fixing these issues is a question of resource allocation. And plenty of organizations are working towards that already.

> this issue could be addressed in the ballot box

I don't believe that is true. Recent history is especially illustrative of this.

>Recent history is especially illustrative of this.

Are you referring to Trump's election?

Well, some people's problems were solved by the ballot box, and they got their man elected. The fact that you disagree with the politics doesn't negate the system working as intended.

Well, for instance, I supported clemency for Bradley Manning, and that Edward Snowden should be honored as a patriot for risking his own welfare to stand up for the people of America against illegal government abuses. I had no choice in the election in that matter. I did have some hope with Bernie, but all of the subversion against him by the DNC my hope was burned to shreds.

So there's an example of how, one of the most important issues, has no ability to be addressed in the ballot box in recent history.

More money wouldn't help that cause though. The US doesn't need the billions to solve issues, it already has it. The lack of solutions in the US is due to people not working towards them, not the resources being lacked.

I disagree. Money is not the only motivation, but it is the most reliable to model as the primary reason why people work.

Read the article...:

> Warren, your gift doubled the foundation’s resources. It’s allowed us to expand our work in US education, support smallholder farmers, and create financial services for the poor. But in this letter, we’re going to tell you about our work in global health—because that was the starting point of our philanthropy, and it’s the majority of what we do.

Read my comment.... > civil and human rights abuses

What should they do, exactly? In my eyes improving education and helping the poor aim exactly at the root of your problems.

Easy. Give money to the EFF, ACLU, etc. Or create a similar organization with that kind of money.

Is there any credible objective evidence that Ian Murdock was abused by the police? I think that you could have chosen a clearer example of police abuse to better support your point.

Don't want to derail this to be about choosing better examples because there are plenty of examples out there and if you'd like to offer another you are more than welcome to contribute yourself.

Murdock was just what came to mind because he contributed so much to open source software and to a large community of people. He was a trailblazer in the realm of OSS and I think that was an important role for humanity to have people willing to take those steps. Gates did a lot to give us the MS OS, Murdock did a lot to bring Debian/Linux to more people.

I believe Ian Murdock is a credible source. Of the people involved, the most credible and respectable source available; but outside of that small group of people, only the universe knows for certain. Or things that exist in other dimensions. Or outside the realm of dimensions. Whatever.

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