• Veraticus@lib.lgbt
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    1 year ago

    Sure.

    Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation will probably eradicate polio.

    Before people jump on the bandwagon about how Gates is evil and problematic, that there are no virtuous billionaires, and a government or an NGO or an equivalent should have been the one to do it… I know. But the question was "name one billionaire that's done anything good," and I think it's pretty difficult to argue that eradicating polio isn't good.

    • nonearther@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      On same tone, Warren Buffet.

      He has also donated billions in the same charity and largely lives controversy free.

    • richieadler@lemmy.myserv.one
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      1 year ago

      However, one can posit that the Gates Foundation is creating a market for vaccines that aren't of interest in the industrialized nations.

      I'm not sure that subsequent doses are going to be provided as generously as the first ones.

      • Vlyn@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        That's not how vaccines work. The illness is already there, it's not like people get sick after you introduce a vaccine into the system. So the "market" has always been there and every dose administered is great.

        • richieadler@lemmy.myserv.one
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          1 year ago

          You don't understand my point.

          • Sick people receive vaccines for free or very cheap
          • Sick people gets hope of survival to disease, hope which wasn't previously available.
          • Sick people ask their governments to continue receiving vaccines.
          • People providing vacciones now are charging a lot more to said governments.
          • Profit (which was the whole point, and not any "humanitarian" notions.)

          And the market wasn't there, because unless there's some way to create high demand and guaranteed payment in poor countries, there's no profit in said vaccines (or any medication, for that matter; do you see any multinational farmaceutical companies giving much thought to the creation of medicine to cure Chagas disease? And it's endemic in many areas of South America. But those are poor areas, so the is no profit there).

          • imaqtpie@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            The problem with your argument is that the Gates foundation is a non-profit. They aren't trying to make a profit, they've burned through tens of billions of dollars in the past 20 years.

            Are you arguing that countries should just let people die from polio rather than accept humanitarian aid or am I missing something?

    • tsonfeir@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Bill gates, also the guy who spent loads of time on epsteins island banging children. I guess it evens out /s