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Comment by CPLX | Hacker News Reader

Meanwhile suicides and death by opiates have skyrocketed across the actual country Gates lives in, exacerbated by the incredible increase in inequality that Gates actively helped create.

Things don’t happen in a vacuum. Some things are much better, some are much worse.

But Gates doesn’t have stats on the concentration of ownership of global resources in that post because it’s not a KPI for him.

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> (suicides) have skyrocketed

You may want to revisit your statement. This kind of trend (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Ag...) is not what you call "skyrocketting". Of course every suicide is one too much, but let's go easy on the hyperbole.

You may want to read this year's letter: https://www.gatesnotes.com/2018-Annual-Letter#ALChapter1

What? Opiate abuse is caused by pharma companies and complicit doctors and hateful governments and law enforcement, not operating systems and office suites and xboxes.

Mental illness increases propensity for substance abuse. Gates, Bezos, et alls wealth accumulation increases mental illness by robbing opportunity from those displaced by their businesses accomplishments. Increase in mental illness leads to an increase in suicide, violence, and substance abuse.

Starvation and disease is not chosen.

Suicides and opiates are. (and if you are a maslow hierarchy fan, you will notice that life has gotten extremely good for these problems to exist)

Things are much much better, equating these is irresponsible.

EDIT: Lets not overthink the very obvious intention and meaning behind my comment.

> Starvation and disease is not chosen. Suicides and opiates are.

This confuses proximate and root causes. Someone may "choose" to pull the trigger and end their life, or choose to swallow one more blissful pill to avoid confronting their miserable existence, but they probably would not have knowingly chosen the circumstances that now leave them with that horrible choice.

It's not that simple.

Oopiates where prescribed in huge numbers knowing that many people would become addicted to them.

Disease vectors are often under peoples control. Do you hike in the woods and risk lime disease?

Poverty is often a little of everything. It's far easier to become poor than stop being poor, but it's not some inescapable prison.

Depends on if we're talking about US poverty or 3rd world poverty.

Many people have escaped 3rd world poverty. It generally means starting young and walking somewhere else, but poor at 16 is a different situation than poor at 60.

Further, there are huge differences between poor and extreme poverty. Reaching say 20$/day is a vast step up for many people.

Little late to edit. But...

Millions of people have escaped 3rd world poverty. It’s vastly easier for you people who can often relocate to more prosperous areas and or gain more valuable skills. Further when you talk about poverty it’s critical to understand the vast difference in living on ~2$ a day and 20$ a day in the same areas. 20$ a day can mean the ability to invest in their and their child’s future. That jump in many ways is the first rung on the ladder of prosperity, but it it a very meaningful step up.

That said, it’s very easy for people to fall into poverty. War, famine, disease, accident, etc all push people down.

I heard you the first time, don't worry about the crowd :)

Starvation and disease is chosen in the sense that the developed world chooses to ignore it.

I’d consider suicide and addiction more of a context than a “choice”.

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