[p2p-research] Defining Altruism ? Normative vs Autonomous ? Liberal Vs Conservative ?

[Michel Bauwens]

hi patrick,

if you had time, a piece on the gates foundation would be useful, with links
such as those you are just offering,

here's some more critical coverage, from
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/brierdudley/2007/12/la_times_rips_gates_foundation_1.html
which
cites an indepth piece of reporting of the LA Times,

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gates16dec16,0,3743924.story?page=7&coll=la-home-center



It basically says money the foundation is spending battling AIDS in Africa
is distorting the continent's already poor healthcare system, drawing
resources and luring desparately needed healthcare workers to better-paying
jobs funded by grants. It also questions priorities, noting that people are
still dying of hunger -- some are so hungry they throw up the AIDS medicine
the foundation is funding.

These are interesting questions and there is great on-the-ground reporting,
but the story uses a terrible anecdote of an infant's death to make its
point.

Here's an excerpt from the story, headlined "Unintended victims of Gates
Foundation generosity":

There was no oxygen tube for Mankuebe. She asphyxiated for lack of a second
valve. It would have cost $35.

The hospital, with no staff to move Mankuebe's remains to the morgue, placed
her body on a shelf near the delivery room while her father arranged for
burial. The tiny corpse was swaddled in a baby blanket. A handwritten death
notice was stuck to the blanket with a used hypodermic needle.

The Gates Foundation, endowed by the personal fortunes of the Microsoft
Corp. chairman, his wife and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren E.
Buffett, has given $650 million to the Global Fund. But the oxygen valve
fell outside the priorities of the fund's grants to Lesotho.

Every day, nurses say, one or two babies at the hospital die as Mankuebe did
-- bypassed in a place where AIDS overshadows other concerns.

 That's a low blow, because it implies the foundation is responsible because
it didn't spend $35 for a valve.

The lack of a valve in a chronically underfunded African hospital isn't a
smoking gun. Maybe I missed something in the story, but it didn't say the
valve would have been there if not for the priority placed on AIDS work
because of the Gates money. So how does that make Mankuebe an "unintended
victim"?

The story actually says the foundation gave the child a chance to come into
the world, because it had earlier saved the child's mother, not to mention
all the children saved by its work on malaria and other critical problems.

It does a good job showing that the AIDS work is stressing Africa's
healthcare system, and it's a reminder that the foundation is still young
and has issues to sort out, such as the side effects of its giant footprint.


It's also good for the public to know about the foundation's challenges and
outcomes, intended and unintended. With all the money being spent, there's
going to be some dirt.

I'm glad there are newspapers with the resources to do this kind of
reporting, but I wish the story had more context.


On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 6:51 PM, Patrick Anderson <agnucius at gmail.com>wrote:

> Michel Bauwens wrote:
> > Bill Gates is heavily into promoting GMO's,
>
> Yes, this is much more scary than software.  He is helping to stop
> User Freedom for food when he funds legislation and the production of
> "Copy Protection" techniques used in plant and animal lifeforms.
>
> "'Gates Gives $300 million - but with a Catch'" --
>
> http://OpenDotDotDot.BlogSpot.com/2009/10/gates-gives-300-million-but-with-catch.html<http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2009/10/gates-gives-300-million-but-with-catch.html>
>
>
> He is also heavily involved in the 'giving' of pharmaceuticals while
> simultaneously working to stop countries from making their own copies
> of that so-called "Intellectual Property".
>
> "'BILL  GATES: KILLING AFRICANS FOR PROFIT AND P.R.'" --
> http://GregPalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=232&row=0<http://gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=232&row=0>
>
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