As IF Times

link:  https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2021/01/11/bill-gates-backed-climate-solution-gains-traction-but-concerns-linger/?sh=34f89544793b

A few generations ago, a television comedy show was produced entitled The Beverly Hillbillies. The show centered on the lives of a hillbilly family who had struck it rich following an oil discovery and were convinced to move to Beverly Hills.

Only in hindsight do we realize just how original and funny those old sitcoms were.  In one of the episodes, Jed Clampett, the patriarch, wanted to enact a plan to clear away the constant smog that settled around Los Angeles (even at that time).  He proposed to his banker, Milburn Drysdale, that some enormous fans be erected on the hills to blow all the smog away.  Here was a guy who wanted to use his new found wealth to do good for others and he had a simple, if wacky idea to do so.

I’m reminded of this episode because of revelations that Bill Gates, he of erstwhile Microsoft wealth and now a world expert on vaccines, will finance what amounts to be a big sunshade to block out the sun’s harmful rays, because, you know, global warming. While I am of the view that you can’t accomplish great things without taking big chances, many of Gate’s adventures post Microsoft are eccentric at best, crazed at worst.  In the case of the mythical Jed Clampett or the real life magnate Andrew Carnegie, a billionaire before it became trendy, their efforts to improve the condition of mankind didn’t involve harming others…and they did it with their own money.

Bill Gate’s record has not been so benign.  The Microsoft loot allowed him to create the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which ostensibly funds humanitarian issues. The influence of his pool of money is multiplied many times over by roping naïve governments to also throw in their tax dollars to really juice up a venture.  While his intentions are admirable, the actual effects of his initiatives, notably vaccine implementations have resulted in unforeseen setbacks not reported in the mainstream news.  Despite this, governments worldwide still consider Gates an authority on vaccine implementation as observed by 2 years of Covid disarray.

Another quixotic venture is the funding of an experiment to try to block out the sun’s harmful rays.  This sounds like another one of those “well it seemed like a good idea at the time” things which will likely lead to a multitude of unforeseen harmful effects; you don’t need to be a college dropout to figure that out.  In this case the ripple effects will create havoc for hundreds of millions of innocent citizens just minding their own business.

When regular people think of some great hare brained scheme, most will die from underfunding and the progenitors labeled nuts.  When people like Gates have an idea, his money will buy the ears of people with infinite money, ie governments, who will then pronounce him a visionary as if he was Leonardo Da Vinci.   Sort of like the novel, 50 Shades Of Grey; the only reason the man in the novel is attractive is because he’s wealthy… otherwise he would just be a run of the mill sexual predator.

Of course Gates is not alone in foisting his vision upon others. For some reason, when people pass a threshold of unimaginable wealth, their inner Doctor Evil percolates to the surface and they expect to move mankind around like pieces on a chessboard.  Suddenly they are convinced that they have a vision beyond that which the average person can comprehend.  Unlike despots in the past who depended on military might to impose their vision of the world, modern oligarchs use stock options.   Invariably there’s always a financial bonanza to be had by being on the right side of any large scale government program.  Just ask Al Gore. Instead of being threatened by death as in the old world, people are now encouraged to fall in line by something worse; the fear of relative poverty by not participating.

As for useful ideas, why not create means by which you can tow icebergs to the desert to create more arable land? Why not build land bridges to link all the continents? Why not shoot all waste into space? Lots of room out there; and if not doable, let’s just dump it on the moon. Give me a call Bill, I’ve got a ton of great ideas.

link ‘Too Asian’? – Canada – Macleans.ca – EHDT Studios.

There is a great series of print ads by Intel, the computer chip giant, which shows contrasting images.  In one side by side contrast, college aged kids are depicted in some kind of aerobic class and on the other side, it shows an image of two similar aged kids sitting over a chessboard in a cafeteria.  The caption is, “Your workout” and then “Our workout”.  As the image on the top of this piece shows, another juxtaposition is “your rockstars, our rockstars”. 

Obviously the ads are meant as tongue in cheek depictions of the people behind the Intel corporation.  But the stark contrasts have an all too accurate and poignant root in reality.  When you step back and consider our culture today, most of what’s considered popular are pursuits that,  while fun and amusing are all about hedonism and little to do with achievement.  Like it or not, this is a bit of a detour for western society, long thought of as founded on the Protestant work ethic.

Somehow the culture of self actualization has taken root and navel gazing is no where in the world practised as artfully as in much of Western society.  One could argue that this is the hallmark of an advanced society.  I think that’s a specious position.  With the great wealth available in western society, it’s natural to figuratively sniff the roses.  One of the most active discussions going on now is the debate to allow marijuana as a legal substance since this appears to have broad appeal.  According to some old statistics from the Journal of the American Medical Association, $1.42 billion dollars a year was spent on advertising alcoholic products in the year 2000.   There’s no reason to believe that number would be lower today. Like tobacco ads of old, images are sold of the lifestyle associated with consumption of such products.  And people buy it. Lifestyle sells.  Unfortunately, now we’ve come to the point of wanting to have the lifestyle without the means of getting there.

We celebrate the accomplishments of sports and entertainment people and pay them astronomical salaries for accomplishments that have more to do with genetic good fortune than hard work.  All of this is wonderful and perhaps are indicators of an advanced society.  Unfortunately, the development of the rest of world has brought forth waves of people with ambition, talent and a work ethic that rubs up against the less urgent attitudes of the West.  To many of these people, the value set embraced by western society (at least depicted in pop culture) is amusing at best but not the goals to be strived for in the harsh reality of life.

The heroes of this wave of people are the likes of Gordon Moore, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and perhaps even Jeff Bezos.  They have built not only companies but entire industries based on the strength of brainpower.  On this intellectual plane, they can compete.  Anyone who has been paying attention may have noticed that advances in technology have been the conspicuous engines for commerce over the past 30 years and will continue to be so moving forward.  A society that does not replenish and encourage its members to stay on the leading edge of this is doomed to be in the backwash of  the next economic wave.

The linked article referred to some claims that universities in North America were implementing subtle quotas in their admissions so as to limit the amount of Asian students because of concerns over their academic dominance.  If true, this is only doing harm to the progress of society.  The logical tack is to encourage the best/brightest and most diligent to excel in their education so that the benefits accrue to society later on.  Kids with the old Protestant work ethic should be encouraged, even if they happen to be Asian.  Given a choice I’d bet 99.9% of most hard working Asian kids would rather play basketball or baseball for a living.  Or act, or sing.  But the realities just aren’t there.  To try to hold off kids that are smart with a good work ethic makes as much sense as keeping Angelina Jolie in a closet for being too pretty or limiting how many 7 footers are allowed in the NBA.

The world is becoming smaller and competition will only get more intense.  We’d better make sure we have the players to compete in the new game.