Bill gates annual letter, note his point about climate change. – Anthony
By almost any measure, the world is better than it has ever been. People are living longer, healthier lives. Many nations that were aid recipients are now self-sufficient. You might think that such striking progress would be widely celebrated, but in fact, Melinda and I are struck by how many people think the world is getting worse. The belief that the world can’t solve extreme poverty and disease isn’t just mistaken. It is harmful. That’s why in this year’s letter we take apart some of the myths that slow down the work. The next time you hear these myths, we hope you will do the same.
…I am optimistic enough about this that I am willing to make a prediction. By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world. (I mean by our current definition of poor.)2 Almost all countries will be what we now call lower-middle income or richer. Countries will learn from their most productive neighbors and benefit from innovations like new vaccines, better seeds, and the digital revolution. Their labor forces, buoyed by expanded education, will attract new investments.
A few countries will be held back by war, politics (North Korea, barring a big change there), or geography (landlocked nations in central Africa). And inequality will still be a problem: There will be poor people in every region.But most of them will live in countries that are self-sufficient. Every nation in South America, Asia, and Central America (with the possible exception of Haiti), and most in coastal Africa, will have joined the ranks of today’s middle-income nations. More than 70 percent of countries will have a higher per-person income than China does today. Nearly 90 percent will have a higher income than India does today.
It will be a remarkable achievement. When I was born, most countries in the world were poor. In the next two decades, desperately poor countries will become the exception rather than the rule. Billions of people will have been lifted out of extreme poverty. The idea that this will happen within my lifetime is simply amazing to me.
Some people will say that helping almost every country develop to middle-income status will not solve all the world’s problems and will even exacerbate some. It is true that we’ll need to develop cheaper, cleaner sources of energy to keep all this growth from making the climate and environment worse. We will also need to solve the problems that come with affluence, like higher rates of diabetes. However, as more people are educated, they will contribute to solving these problems. Bringing the development agenda near to completion will do more to improve human lives than anything else we do.
Read the entire letter here:
http://annualletter.gatesfoundation.org/?cid=bg_pt_ll0_012122/
h/t to Barry Woods
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Development is the answer to the problems of climate change – Yes.
This is how sceptics and alarmists can work together.
I read the whole thing and it was well worth it. He is very optimistic about where the world going. To me, it goes along with what Marc Marano says about energy helping to lead the world out of poverty. this is evidence that what Marc ahs been saying has been working for the last 50 years.
Wanting to develop cheaper, cleaner sources of energy is not such a bad thing, especially the cheaper part.
Bill Gates said:
He leads with “cheaper”, and that’s encouraging.
Of course, “we” don’t need a lot of cleaning-up, and neither do the folks who he is pointing at (at the bottom). It’s the ranking-emerging, and the hard-charging #2 try-harder crew, who really put up the pollution.
I did not go read the whole thing, but I assume that if he riffed-off on a CO2 rant etc, we would be reading about it in the post. So it looks like pretty tame stuff.
And why should he make a fuss about greenhouse theories, when everybody can see that the human CO2-driver idea is already on the ropes, and the smart money is edging for the exit-aisles?
Is Bill Gates the only billionaire who is ANTI-malthusian? myth 3 important
How refreshing. Someone stating, that while there is much to do still, things have never been better. And things only look to keep getting better.
@weatherornot January 22, 2014 at 1:32
Bingo. Too bad that most politicians currently in power do not agree. Hence carbon taxes and various other stupidities; all acting as barriers to the improvement of peoples’ lives.
I think my “conversion” to this idea came when I realized that the Book Of Revelation (sp) was written by a Jewish/Israel ex patriot, thrown out of Israel by the Romans in 70 AD. He also was an ELDER in the early Christian church. TO him everything revolved around Israel. Sort of the beginning of “Apocalypse” thinking.
When I rejected this “Book” as having no “prophetic” value, my attitude towards humanity changed. I also believe we CAN achieve an overall better life for EVERYONE. I AM an ENGINEER, I MAKE that better life. OK, so I regard all non-engineers as some what Neanderthal, but that’s a personal problem. (Satirical humor hear anyone?) But I am SO PROUD of B.G. for having the same attitude I do. AND the same historical clarity of vision. BRAVO BILL! You are an admirable man. (Melinda too!!!! But you know that.)
Two scams mentioned in the same paragraph notably:
We will also need to solve the problems that come with affluence, like higher rates of diabetes.
Nope. Not higher rates of affluence. Diabetes or trans-fatty acid poisoning of the modified electron transport chain in pancreatic beta cells comes from the consumption of trans fats as encouraged by the medical profession and big pharma. Its perpetuation, like the climate change scam, comes from control of the MSM and its solid foundation in pseudo science. In fact the world might well have been described as affluent in 1932 when there were zero cases of diabetes (2). The first case was in 1933, just 81 years ago….
…. and you all believed it was natural?
Nope. Its a scam, like Alzheimers, CV disease and many other symptoms of TFA poisoning.
Well Mr. Gates Africa will still be full of wars and faction controlled by dictators, the Arabs will still control oil which will still be king, China is entering their military phase, Iran will have their nuke, as will North Korea, the oil sands will still be pumping oil, the US fracking, and so on. At this point in time no one knows what the sun will do, or how long we will have a quiet sun possibly leading to cooling, the EU will still be broke – perhaps Mr. Gates might want to name all those new cheaper forms of energy he has in mind.
An excellent analysis.
Bill and his organisation have gone up in my estimation.
We have to stop the doomsayers who demand more and more control by frightening us about the future.
If all nations increase per capita wealth the birth rate drops below replacement and we move towards genuine long term sustainability with an improved environment.
I’ve been pointing that out for a while but to see Bill endorse it is a sign that it really is sinking in.
The necessary increase in per capita wealth can only come from freedom and the cheapest possible sources of energy.
Freedom involves the minimum of state interference.
The cheapest sources of energy do not include those sources currently described as environmentally sustainable.
That phrase is Orwellian in that it is the opposite of the truth.
Genuine sustainability is going to come from fossil fuel use simply because it is cheap, plentiful, and leads to levels of prosperity that result in voluntarily reduced reproduction rates.
If we raise the cost of energy by not using fossil fuels freely then we delay global prosperity, delay (and maybe defer indefinitely) the date of worldwide voluntary reduction in reproduction rates and damage the environment more than would otherwise have been the case.
As usual, the power hungry know it all types are promulgating a great lie.
If our CO2 emissions do not significantly affect the sizes positions and intensities of the permanent climate zones then we have been deceived, robbed and betrayed to an astonishing degree.
The evidence is building that that is exactly what has happened.
albertalad said @ur momisugly January 22, 2014 at 2:03 pm;
Coal?
It can be burned without turning the air nasty.
Nice letter. Thanks for sharing.
I can see him receiving a lot of hate from the left due to this letter… they do not like optimism through invested (capital).
Well just look at that … the glass isn’t half empty, it’s half full.
So much for all that gloom & doom talk.
See:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/08/colbert-trump-climate-change_n_4561585.html
This gives the views of another wealthy American on this general topic:
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump
Follow
This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bullshit has got to stop. Our planet is freezing, record low temps,and our GW scientists are stuck in ice
5:39 PM – 1 Jan 2014
eco-geek says:
January 22, 2014 at 1:52 pm
… Diabetes or trans-fatty acid poisoning of the modified electron transport chain in pancreatic beta cells comes from …”
I’m not sure where you got your history of diabetes from but Type 2 has been known since the 5th century C.E. as a distinct form, different from Type 1. Also, Type 2 was noted to be correlated with increasing affluence by health officers of British colonial agencies in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a matter of great concern.
There is also a known inverse correlation between how long a population has been relying on a modern diet dominated by wheat flour and white rice. Foraging peoples and slash and burn (or “swidden” based) agriculturalists are particularly susceptible when their diets shift to highly processed. starch laden ones. There is no simple, single cause. Both forms of diabetes have been known for centuries.
Trans-fats certainly are something I avoid, but so are high-fructose corn syrup and corn-fed beef. There’s a broad consensus now that even butter!! is better for you than trans-fat laden foods. That, however, is no good reason for walking the conspiracy plank.
Arrgh! I accidentally deleted the end of the mark ending italicization. Be great if we could edit a comment.
Cheaper and Cleaner Energy is necessary for a better and more prosperous world.
But it won’t happen with rising thuggery,
forced social conformism,
more rule of man than rule of law,
and a epidemic of law to numerous to read.
It isn’t a matter of enginering a better world.
It is a “People Problem”
These dastardly capitalists really do need to get a better sense of self hatred. Don’t know how he can live with all that optimism. Hair shirt and self flagellation for you Mr Gates.
@ur momisugly ecogeek. What’s the source for your claim about diabetes? My great-uncle died as a youngster in the UK and was one of the first users of insulin. This was in the 1920’s. A quick google would also suggest diabetes was even recognised back in the ancient world.
Sadly I think he is wrong. Problem number one is population and poor families having too many children. While the world may technically be able to support 7 million or 10 million it won’t for long before the four horses of the apocalypse change all that.
Diabetes is genetic, you don’t “catch” it from transfats or sugar, you get it from your parents. Of course there was diabetes before 1932. When diabetics got sick they were treated with roots and herbs and if they died they died. Who knew what they died from and who cared.
Free trade has done more to uplift the poorer countries than any govt programs ever will. As long there is a free market, capital will always seach out the most efficient and lowest cost workers and
send work their way. Japan, Korea, China, India and even the U.S. all started out as low cost labor pools that attracted capital. Without a free and competitive environment, nothing works. That goes for all things human, including science.
GoneWithTheWind, didn’t you read the letter? He addresses this very clearly: More affluence leads to lower population. It is poor countries that have too many children.
must be a very small point – I couldn’t see it