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Comment by claydavisss | Hacker News Reader

Bill Gates lives in a house that is SIXTY SIX THOUSAND SQUARE FEET.

Bill Gates flies in a private jet.

Bill Gates has a lot of work to do just to get his carbon footprint in line with the average multimillionaire let alone the national average.

Bill Gates should realize that the fundamental challenge is getting people to consume less than they can.

Maybe his net blog post should detail his personal impact relative to the average citizen and what he is doing to make his impact below average.

We don't need more blog posts. We already know everything we need to know to plot a course of action.

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Also he has saved 400 million lives. That's a whole lot of carbon footprint added, right?

Source ?

Did you read the post? He's part of a project putting up £100 million for climate change research and action. It's not just another post communicating how bad the situation is.

He isn't sacrificing. The $100 million will shortly be recovered by his investments. This is about as monumental as someone here donating $500.

In any case I can tell him what needs to be done for $0 - consume less

No change will come unless everyone sacrifices.

From wikipedia. How long will it take to recoup his $28 billion in donations?

"In 2007, its founders were ranked as the second most generous philanthropists in the US, and Warren Buffett the first. As of May 16, 2013, Bill Gates had donated US$28 billion to the foundation."

> How long will it take to recoup his $28 billion in donations?

He "donated" to his own charity which he and his wife controls.

But since you asked, about 5 years. His net worth was about $67 billion in 2013. Now it's about $95 billion.

It's incredible that someone could donate billions of dollars and do unequivocally great things, and people like you still think it's bad.

> It's incredible that someone could donate billions of dollars and do unequivocally great things, and people like you still think it's bad.

He did a lot of bad things as well. Microsoft the Monopoly set back computing by many years and was one of the most destructive forces for the past 30 years.

Gates must be spending a lot of money on PR to get his sainthood.

I'm sure zuckerburg and bezos are going to set up their own family charity to avoid taxes and "do good" too. Doesn't make them saints.

Isn’t it fantastic to be lectured from up on high by the hypocritical elite? Us dirty, common, poor people are the problem, and people like Gates could be assured of living in utopia for eternity if only we’d listen to their “Do as I say, not as I do” platitudes.

EDIT: His house is much larger than his and Melinda's needs. His blog easily uses 20x more energy than it needs (uBlock origin counts 19 attempted connections). He doesn't need to fly anywhere for conferences/meetings with the power of the Internet and teleconferencing. Is he a vegetarian/vegan again, or was that just something he tried in his 20s? He doesn't need to eat meat. He wants everyone else to sacrifice while he himself isn't willing to give up his lavish lifestyle. It's gross, hypocritical, and no amount of cashy-money donations make up for him not following his own preachings.

Right. I’m not saying climate change isn’t happening. But it’s clear that most celebrities don’t act as if they believe it is themselves. No compromises in their own lifestyles. My own carbon footprint probably isn’t 1% of 1% of 1% of the average super rich jetsetter like Gates or Bono or Al Gore. Leaders lead by example.

So, let it all burn, just to spite all those snubbing elites, right?

It's like people who live beyond their means are offended when some multimillionaire tells them to spend less and save more, "I don't see you doing that on your yacht!" Sure, but he doesn't need to.

Or maybe the people berating an overweight dietitian advising healthy diet. "Didn't work for you, did it?" Sure, doesn't mean it doesn't work in general.

Gates will be fine whatever happens. It is us, "dirty common poor people", who will suffer the consequences. The dirtier and commoner, the worse is the effect. Resenting him for trying to save you from yourself is childish, petty and disgusting.

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