Chuck Darwin

Bill Gates ratcheted up his feud with Elon Musk, accusing the world’s richest man of “killing the world’s poorest children” through what he said were misguided cuts to US development assistance.

Gates, who is announcing a plan to accelerate his philanthropic giving over the next 20 years and close down the Gates Foundation altogether in 2045, said in an interview that the Tesla chief had acted through ignorance.

In February, Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) in effect shut down the US Agency for International Development, the main conduit for US aid, saying it was “time for it to die.”

The co-founder of Microsoft, and once the world’s richest man himself,
said the abruptness of the cuts had left life-saving food and medicines expiring in warehouses and could cause the resurgence of diseases such as measles, HIV, and polio.

“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” he told the Financial Times
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/05/bill-gates-accuses-elon-musk-of-killing-children-with-doge-led-usaid-cuts/

Elon Musk is responsible for “killing the world’s poorest children,” says Bill Gates

“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one.”…

Ars Technica
May 8, 2025 at 11:46pmWeb
Show threadKevin Karhan May 8, 2025
@cdarwin as much as I despise #BillGates, he makes himself look like a saint compared to #ElonMusk (okay, there ain't that many absurdly-rixh sociopaths!)
Show threadDark Phoenix 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇬🇱🇵🇦🇵🇸🏳️‍🌈May 8, 2025
@cdarwin completely true. He takes after his racist ancestors. At least the last couple generations.
Show threadquixoteMay 9, 2025
@cdarwin It's funny with Gates. When it came to the computer stuff where he made his fortune, he was a seriously malign influence. (Though by current standards, barely bad.) But when it comes to most of his philanthropy it's like he has a whole brain and heart he never bothered to use before.
Show threadDr Daniel, Photon Shepherd🇸🇪🇦🇺May 9, 2025

@quixote @cdarwin

Nope. Could have had a much greater positive influence on the world if he just paid his taxes.

Show threadDisplay NameMay 9, 2025
@DanielEriksson @quixote @cdarwin THAT is not on him though. (Unless he's not paying the taxes already incurred, then yes, he should pay his taxes)
Show threadDr Daniel, Photon Shepherd🇸🇪🇦🇺May 9, 2025

@alper @quixote @cdarwin

There exists no path to that kind of money that does not actively avoid taxes.

And no, philanthropy does not count.

Show threadDisplay NameMay 9, 2025
@DanielEriksson @quixote @cdarwin avoiding is not illegal. The problem is paying lobbyists and politicians to change the rules so they can avoid it while others pay. It is on us to fix that. They'll always want to keep more of it. That is not surprising. They shouldn't be able to.
Show threadquixoteMay 9, 2025

@DanielEriksson @alper @cdarwin My intuition about it says there is no path to that amount of money that doesn't involve some form of rip-off. (Just because it's legal, doesn't make it right.)

In Gates' case it was mere monopoly and squashing competition. The current crop? The data-stealing, pushing attention addictions, plus all the old line shenanigans, there's just no end to it, and most of it is some kind of new crime of soul-stealing!

Show threadDisplay NameMay 9, 2025
@quixote @DanielEriksson @cdarwin absolutely. But again it is not on him. I'm sure he pulled levers to get Bush elected and throw the antitrust case out. We cannot expect them to go pay any tax they can avoid. We have to elect people who'll close the loopholes. Or become those people.
Show threadSlightlyCyberpunkMay 9, 2025
@cdarwin Jesus, Musk is so evil he's got me agreeing with Bill Fucking Gates on something...
Show threadMarkMay 9, 2025
@cdarwin Good for Bill. But mischaracterized Musk as ignorant. It’s not ignorance. It’s intentional, willful malevolence and misanthropy. He gloats in it. It feeds his soul. He’s a sick dude.
Show threadSpaceLifeFormMay 9, 2025

@cdarwin

Let them fight.

Show threadwakkoMay 9, 2025
@cdarwin There is no reason to applaud Gates for doing today what he should have done 30 years ago. Giving away that which was not obtained through respectable means is not itself a respectable act.