Im not so sure this is great news. I was listening to an interview the CBC had with Ralph Nador a few months ago. He was out selling his new book and implied that what Gates and Buffet were doing was his idea. He said that Gates joined up with Buffet and George Soros after reading advanced copies of his new book.
In his book Nador suggests the best way to better the lives of the poor wasn't in hand outs or even digging wells, providing plant seeds, ect. I forget what he called that kind of charity but, basically he seen it as changing very little long term. What Nador was suggesting is that the money should be invested in organizations whoes aim is the changing of governmental policies to make them more favourable to the poor. I don't think he was thinking so much about the governments of these poor countries but, rather the Western ones. I could be wrong on that one though.
What is scary is the thought of the kinds of millions these guys have being used to influence politics for the poor. Our governments already often seems to be out of step with the needs of the average citizen. The influence such wealth could have on our political leaders can't be good. Basically in Ralph Nador's model you take the Billion dollars you were going to give away in Africa and use it to support organizations who will work towards getting people elected to public office who will spend 10 times that in aid to Africa. Unfortunately that means guys like you and me see more of their limited wealth taken away.
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