Bill and Melinda Gates Enlist “Global Citizens” to Support Agenda
By Anthony Cody.
In their 2015 annual letter, Bill and Melinda Gates describe the way that technology will transform the lives of the poor. They also describe a new project that will enlist millions around the world as “Global Citizens” in support of their agenda. The overriding message that the couple would like to emphasize is one of hope. Tom Paulson wrote about the inside discussion that the Gates Foundation had with friendly media, and here is what he found out was driving the message:
“Our research has shown that people see, or at least remember, the stories that highlight waste and ineffectiveness in foreign aid more than they do the positive stories,” said Tom Scott, director of global brand and innovation at the foundation. “It’s harder to break through with the stories of success so that’s our emphasis.”
And that emphasis comes through loud and clear in this year’s letter.
Although Gates acknowledged just a month ago that the Gates Foundation’s emphasis on technological solutions to the problems of the developing world had not yielded the breakthroughs he had hoped, technology remains central to the foundation’s vision.
Genetically modified seeds, chemical fertilizers and improved roads will transform agriculture in Africa, Gates suggests. Serious questions have been raised about the wisdom of this approach, as replacing heritage seeds with GM ones locks farmers into dependent relationships with suppliers like Monsanto – which ispartly owned by the Gates Foundation.
According to this year’s letter, smartphones will allow those without access to schools to learn online. This section is entitled “Better software will revolutionize learning.”
Mobile phones will also allow the poor to borrow money, and the Gates explain,
Not having access to a range of cheap and easy financial services makes it much more difficult to be poor.But in the next 15 years, digital banking will give the poor more control over their assets and help them transform their lives.The key to this will be mobile phones.
When I investigated the research on micro-credit, I find that there are some small benefits, but it has not been transformative.
The Annual Letter carries a carefully crafted message, not subject to slips of the tongue. In off the cuff conversations, Gates is a bit less optimistic. In an interview with the American Enterprise Institute last year, Gates said this:
Well, technology in general will make capital more attractive than labor over time. Software substitution, you know, whether it’s for drivers or waiters or nurses… It’s progressing. And that’s going to force us to rethink how these tax structures work in order to maximize employment, you know, given that, you know, capitalism in general, over time, will create more inequality and technology, over time, will reduce demand for jobs particularly at the lower end of the skill set. And so, you know, we have to adjust, and these things are coming fast. Twenty years from now, labor demand for lots of skill sets will be substantially lower, and I don’t think people have that in their mental model.
So he has in his mental model a future where capitalism will make inequality greater, and technology will make jobs fewer – but nonetheless, manages to project a brighter future for the poor through the Bill and Melinda Gates Enlist “Global Citizens” to Support Agenda - Living in Dialogue: