Bill Gates

I am a fan of Bill Gates. He has proven again and again that he is an altruist. For those not familiar with the term, it means someone who looks for the good in life and works to solve the big problems.

Many people think rich people are selfish. They think greed got them their riches. That may be true in many cases, but not, I think, with Bill Gates. He made money the old-fashioned way: he not only built a better mousetrap but invented the thing. Personal computing was not much of anything. Geeks, maybe.

Science nerds looking for better methods to crunch large numbers and do so from their own desk, found a way to build the internet. That was a research source built to share information and research reports. Mostly the internet was used by universities and government agencies using each other’s data to push forward the boundaries of society’s knowledge.

Accessing this from smaller, individual computers was a dream of many. Bill Gates made it possible. He shared much of his information so advances in the field would be large and frequent. He was right. Microsoft became a huge, open architecture developer of software and computer gadgets. His methods advanced computer uses to you and me. The public responded. The rest is history.

Gates made a lot of money. So did many of his colleagues and friends who were in from the earliest stages of these developments. Industries sprouted up because of their work. Businesses changed. Careers morphed. A revolution was built on what Bill and his pals created.

For years, Bill and Melinda Gates toiled to funnel their wealth into advancements for the global population. They struggled with finding sources of clean drinking water, water purification systems to keep the water clean, and sewage treatment methods in underdeveloped countries. The single largest cause of ill health and death is poor sanitation and lack of clean drinking water.

Bill and Melinda solved many of these problems. Some nations were and are too backward to make good use of their findings. But then Bill and Melinda Gates went on to tackle other large issues.

Even in their divorce, the Gates are pursuing their own pathways to building a healthier, safer global community in which to live. Over 2 billion people live in abject poverty. Those folks put up with poor housing, uncertain food supplies, unhealthy water supplies, and poor medical services. Education is also a target for quality of life.

Bill Gates has frequently sounded the alarm on our planet’s health. He has supported research to solve many of those problems and continues to do so. Last week he donated another $20 billion of his personal wealth to the foundation to boost current research projects to save the planet. He has stated that he plans on donating all of his wealth to the foundation in future years. He claims no interest in being a member of the billionaire’s club.

I believe him. I have no reason not to. Bill remains my hero in so many ways. I just wish we could all make a difference in the lives of others as he has, and Melinda as well. They are both outstanding human beings.

July 18, 2022   

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