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Billionaire close to tears amid fears of "lefties" like AOC, Bernie Sanders (www.newsweek.com)
submitted 3 years ago by to c/politics@beehaw.org
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Billionaire Leon Cooperman was on the verge of tears while speaking about his concern about "the lefties" and their progressive outlook on capitalism.

"I've lived the American dream. I'm trying to convince people like [Senators] Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and AOC (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)—don't move away from capitalism. Capitalism is the best system," Cooperman said on CNBC's Squawk Box on Friday while holding back tears. "I get choked up when I talk about it because basically, my father came to America at the age of 12 as a plumber's apprentice. No education."

"I went to public school in the Bronx, high school in the Bronx, college in the Bronx. I started my career in Wall Street the day after I got my MBA from Columbia. I had no money. I couldn't afford a vacation. I made a lot of money. I'm giving it all back," Cooperman said before co-anchor Rebecca Quick stepped in as he choked up.

"Giving it all back?" Give me a fucking break, asshole.

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[–] 37 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (1 child)

Yes, please see the links below, however as a brief summary:

Bill and Melinda Gates foundation do two things: Invest in public issues and lobby governments to spend in said issues, in exchange for further donations and investments.

However, in parallel, Bill Gates also invests in specific companies that will be targeted as main providers for those activities.
One could consider that he's investing in companies that help out (e.g., vaccination) and that's not a bad thing. The problem is that he is bennefiting from lobbying in pro of the companies he has invested on.

We could also agree that even if he's bullying governments and institutions into giving him more money through those companies, at the end it is a positive boost (like the example you mention).

That's not the case with Common Core: Diane Ravitch put it better than I could here, but basically Bill Gates' is forcing public schools into programs that do not work, alienate teachers and students, have almost bankrupt public education and required purchasing materials from companies he controlled.

Furthermore, for each time Common Core failed, he doubled down, and for each consecutive failure he decided that a new drastic measure will solve the issue, even though the education community was saying otherwise.

The issue with these foundations is that rich people believe they have the solution to all the problems: not money but their intellect, and that they know more than everyone combined on that profession.

This is in parallel what is been happening with carbon capture. This foundation is also lobbying for a technology that has been heavily critisized as a pipedream; however, surprise surprise, Bill Gates do have large investments in carbon capture companies (e.g. Heirloom).

Again, I do not think he's evil or is going to inject me with pentium II mmx now; I just think he feels smarter than everyone else and is misguiding governments to invest in failed practices despite what the actual professionals are saying.

Videos:
https://youtu.be/U3Z9gBKuTIk (CNBC - How Common Core Broke U.S. Schools)
https://youtu.be/laGtd-b0vMY (FT - Carbon Capture: hopes, challenges and controversies)
https://youtu.be/ag5zQeXC-TY (THD - How Bill Gates Hijacked US Education Agenda (Opinion))

  • nccs.urban.org/publication/nonprofit-sector-brief-2019#recipients
  • statista.com/statistics/250878/number-of-foundations-in-the-united-states
  • propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax
  • nytimes.com/2021/06/08/us/politics/income-taxes-bezos-musk-buffett.html
  • irs.gov/charities-non-profits/private-foundations/taxes-on-failure-to-distribute-income-private-foundations
  • nptrust.org/philanthropic-resources/charitable-giving-statistics
  • issuelab.org/resources/36381/36381.pdf
  • thenation.com/article/society/bill-gates-foundation-philanthropy
  • latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jan-07-na-gatesx07-story.html
  • sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1166559/000110465923060842/0001104659-23-060842-index.html
  • sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1663801/000089843223000302/0000898432-23-000302-index.html
  • latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2012-may-18-la-ford-foundation-los-angeles-times-20120517-story.html
  • archives.cjr.org/behind_the_news/ford_foundation_los_angeles_ti.php
  • jacobin.com/2015/11/philanthropy-charity-banga-carnegie-gates-foundation-development
  • washingtonpost.com/local/education/pearson-pays-77-million-in-common-core-settlement/2013/12/13/77515bba-6423-11e3-aa81-e1dab1360323_story.html
  • sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1067983/000095012323005270/0000950123-23-005270-index.html
  • philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/gates-foundation-awards-11-million-for-financial-inclusion-in-africa
  • news.stanford.edu/2018/12/03/the-problems-with-philanthropy
  • washingtonpost.com/education/2021/05/05/what-bill-melinda-gates-did-to-education
  • chalkbeat.org/2018/6/21/21105193/the-gates-foundation-bet-big-on-teacher-evaluation-the-report-it-commissioned-explains-how-those-eff
  • currentaffairs.org/2021/05/humanity-does-not-need-bill-gates
  • prweb.com/releases/2014/02/prweb11601976.htm
  • washingtonpost.com/education/2020/02/10/bill-melinda-gates-have-spent-billions-dollars-shape-education-policy-now-they-say-theyre-skeptical-billionaires-trying-do-just-that
  • philanthropyroundtable.org/almanac/statistics-on-u-s-generosity/[28] charitywatch.org/nonprofit-compensation-packages-of-1-million-or-more
  • nytimes.com/2013/07/27/opinion/the-charitable-industrial-complex.html
  • latimes.com/business/la-na-gates8jan8-story.html
  • policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/carbon-billionaires-the-investment-emissions-of-the-worlds-richest-people-621446
  • oxfam.org/en/research/time-care → PDF report
  • oxfam.org/en/research/survival-richest → PDF report
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  • [–] 12 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    I mean, I think he's evil. But I also remember Microsoft in the 90s: the EEE strategy, the monopolistic bullshit with web browsers, the FUD against competitors, the Strong arming of computer manufacturers to not offer alternatives, etc.

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  • [–] 11 points 3 years ago (2 children)

    I mean, I think he's evil.

    You don't mean to say that the guy who tried to keep vaccines for COVID patented instead of making them free for everyone to manufacture is evil, right?

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  • [–] 4 points 3 years ago (1 child)

    Gates is a weird figure - I don't think he's actually evil (nowadays), because evil implies malicious intent. Rather, he unintentionally commits evil actions (those which harm people and if committed with full understanding would be unambiguously evil) as a result of his own personal extremely warped values. The guy thinks patent law is the highest moral good, so the millions of people who don't get vaccinated as a result are either forgotten about or a necessary sacrifice for the societal good of protecting patents (which he might justify as making these sorts of innovations possible in the first place - demonstrably incorrect, but good luck getting him to listen to anyone who might tell him that).

    tl;dr you can't be evil by human standards if you have alien blue and orange morality.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 years ago*

    Your point is well made, except this was going to be an exception, it was not going to be a rule for all vaccines going forward, so I have a hard time accepting the story you have weaved as an explanation. There's still possible for there to be an explanation, just as much as it's possible for it to be weaponized incompetence/ignorance.

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