tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8229878121183426722.post7199227530579813592..comments2023-10-08T12:27:04.050+03:00Comments on HIV in Kenya: What Has Gates Learned About Development Since Last Year?Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13522180315970081603noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8229878121183426722.post-83279033751234296132012-02-05T09:48:33.245+03:002012-02-05T09:48:33.245+03:00Sure, I think there is more hope for something lik...Sure, I think there is more hope for something like the broader microfinance, where people are offered financial services that are, as yet, unavailable to them. As well as loans, people need savings facilities and particularly insurance. Unfortunately there's been a lot of very misleading hype about microfinance, it can do, and has often done, a lot of damage. Also, the IMF top-downism is destructive, but it was never intended to be good for developing countries!Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13522180315970081603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8229878121183426722.post-49410503773773870872012-02-05T05:34:12.918+03:002012-02-05T05:34:12.918+03:00I mentioned microlending as a mechanism to foster ...I mentioned microlending as a mechanism to foster bottom-up, local control of resources rather than the destructive top-down IMF model. Perhaps the corporate idea of development has an exploitive subtext, while I would rather have "development" evolve into a self-sustaining system that serves the needs of people in that community. My ignorance of local needs limits my ability to cite examples.Petit Pouletnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8229878121183426722.post-79240555440745865922012-01-31T09:36:04.907+03:002012-01-31T09:36:04.907+03:00Not so sure if I agree with you about microlending...Not so sure if I agree with you about microlending, petit Poulet, but GMO is clearly not going to reduce poverty, dependency, poor food security or sovereignty or be of any benefit to anyone but the multinationals and their acolytes.<br /><br />Joseph, I don't know if Gates expects such ardent devotion and sycophancy or if that's how those around him feel they have to behave to keep their jobs, but they seem to end up making him look very badly informed and unable to articulate anything insightful about development.Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13522180315970081603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8229878121183426722.post-29157258163926311642012-01-30T05:34:03.321+03:002012-01-30T05:34:03.321+03:00What are Gates' credentials? What degrees does...What are Gates' credentials? What degrees does he hold?<br /><br />Is he a doctor of any kind? A farmer? A geneticist?<br /><br />Does he hold a degree in surgery? Urology? Pediatrics? Epidemiology? Gynecology? Horticulture? Agriculture? Etc., etc.?<br /><br />How is it ANYBODY gives this man ANY credibility?<br /><br />Bill Gates is first and foremost a businessman and an entrepreneur.<br /><br />All of this is pure PR. It's all about trying to put his name on something before he dies.<br /><br />He has absolutely zero concern for humanity.<br /><br />Why don't Africans wise up and kick him out?<br /><br />Why don't other charities oust him?<br /><br />Because he has money, lot's of money, and those other entities hope to get a slice of his pie.<br /><br />That's why.<br /><br />This just feeds Gates' ego even more.<br /><br />The whole scenario is absolutely pathetic.Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14190648498809795551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8229878121183426722.post-30780299500045818942012-01-30T05:33:00.539+03:002012-01-30T05:33:00.539+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14190648498809795551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8229878121183426722.post-87340917819277884302012-01-30T03:57:14.119+03:002012-01-30T03:57:14.119+03:00Why should we expect insight from a man who made h...Why should we expect insight from a man who made his fortune on an poorly executed, stolen idea. He made his money because he was able to monopolize the market and use top down authority to cram their product down people's throats. Such a model for development in Africa won't work.<br /><br />Gates was almost giddy when quoted in a Newsweek article in which he was visiting a circumcision clinic that he had helped pay for. This reaction indicates some level of psychosexual damage.<br /><br />The skills that make one successful at accumulating wealth, which are usually based on a lack of ethics and a willingness to exploit others, do not translate well into the realm of making the world a better place. Better to put the money into microlending so the local farmer can borrow money to perpetuate subsistence farming for his local area. Better to keep Monsanto out of the equation. Remember, Gates is a colonialist in a global economy.Petit Pouletnoreply@blogger.com