The Gates of Hell

Children in Ebocha, Nigeria are marked with an ink spot to mark them as having been vaccinated against measles and polio courtesy of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. These same children, and their parents, live in a toxic stew of fumes and chemicals spewed out by oil refineries and paper mills. Many people in this valley suffer from serious respiratory ailments due to the rampant pollution in the region. Listed as investors in these companies, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Today, the Los Angeles Times published an eight page report on the Gates Foundation and its investments.
This is a truly stunning, must-read story.
http://www.latimes.com/...

The Gates couple receive glowing accolades for their work; whether it's spending money to fight disease, getting computers in schools, improving the living conditions of the very poor. Yet, it appears that the Gates Foundation is heavily invested in companies that cause these conditions in the first place.

In Ebocha, for example, hundreds of flares burn off gas over the oil fields. spewing heat and toxic fumes night and day. Respiratory disease and cancer are epidemic.
"Ebocha" means 'City of Lights.'

Over one billion cubic feet of gas are burned off each day, blanketing the area and contributing to global warming. Oil company spokespeople deny that flaring contributes to sickness, despite the fact that many of the 250 toxic chemicals produced by burning gas are known to be carcinogenic and contribute to respiratory disease.

I envision a cartoon of the Gates reassuring an African village child dying of lung disease, "Well, at least you won't die of polio."

The Foundation has spent $218 million for polio and measles immunization worldwide. At the same time, the Times reports, it invested $423 million in the five oil companies responsible for most of the pollution in the region. Pollution of levels far beyond anything permitted in First World countries of a magnitude that would have Bill and Melinda howling if it drifted over the walls of their Redmond, Washington mansion.

Weirdly, the living conditions imposed by these polluters are also responsible for the very diseases the Gates Foundation is fighting.

Open bore holes fill with water, creating breeding grounds for mosquitos.

Oil workers create a market for prostitution, which spreads HIV.

Filth from the oil fields fouls the water, enabling cholera and other water-borne diseases to spread.

Benzene, mercury and chromium from the flares weakens the immune system of people exposed to these toxins.

The foundation spends 5% of its worth. It invests the other 95% in socially irresponsible entities.

Like pharmaceutical companies that keep the price of live-saving drugs out of the reach of the poverty stricken people who need them most.

It's called 'blind eye investing,' profiting from destructive or unethical companies. To guarantee blind eye investing, the Gates Foundation has compartmentalized the charitable and investment branches so that the left hand literally has no idea what the right hand is investing in.

The good news is, the Gates Foundation refuses to invest in tobacco companies. I think that shows fantastic social responsibility. You may die from the pollution spewed out by companies the Gates Foundation invests in.
But you will not die of measles, smallpox, polio, or cigarette induced lung cancer.

There's no question as to why the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation exists. That 5% spend on good works is 5% not taxed. In 2005, that was $1.4 BILLION dollars!

In a weird way, the Gates Foundation has discovered the secret to creating a perpetual motion machine. By investing in corporations that pollute and poison entire regions, they create the need for charitable acts that purport to alleviate the symptom of the problem, garner some good will and good PR, and wind up with a reputation of humanitarianism.

As major shareholders in several environmentally destructive companies, it is astonishing that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation doesn't use its clout to invest in research and equipment that could alleviate the toxic conditions which are poisoning the local people.

Up until now, I considered Bill Gates as a geek who made it. When I read about the millions his foundation spent on battling disease in the Third World, I thought he was a geek with a streak of humanity, despite the fact that Microsoft products and practices suggest otherwise.

But now, it appears that Bill Gates might be just another wealthy, cynical asshole after all.

Not only is his foundation a major shareholder in companies which are, in part, causing or enabling the very diseases his foundation is targeting, the entire organization is set up such that there is no review of socially responsible investing or dialogue between the investment and bestowment arms.

If Bill Gates, one of the world's richest men, really wanted to initiate radical changes in the third world, he could certainly afford to do so. That his foundation fails to invest responsibly suggests rank hypocrisy of the vilest sort.

I swear, when this computer finally dies, I'm buying a Mac. Read the L. A. Times article. You'll want to buy a Mac as well...right after you take a shower.