Humanosphere: Gates Foundation’s rose-colored world view not supported by evidence
In this guest opinion piece, Martin Kirk, co-founder and campaign policy director of /TheRules, and Jason Hickel, an anthropologist at the London School of Economics and author, criticize Bill and Melinda Gates’s annual letter, writing, “There are two big problems with the letter. First, some of their examples are just wrong. Second are errors of omission. There’s a lot they just don’t talk about.” Kirk and Hickel continue, “The Gates Foundation has undoubtedly made some valuable contributions to [health and development] work, particularly in the area of vaccines, and that should be acknowledged and celebrated. But to tell such a reductive, self-aggrandizing story isn’t optimism, it’s deception. It is false to think that we can get lasting change by only speaking of what alleviates some of the worst suffering while ignoring almost everything that causes it. It is also disingenuous to claim that poverty can be eradicated with more charity and foreign aid…” (3/20).