TOMapleLaughs Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Quote Bill Gates: US 'should take more' refugees The billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates has told the BBC that the United States "should set a better example" by taking in more refugees. Mr Gates said his home country "had the capacity" to follow the examples of Germany and Sweden, who were "to be congratulated" for welcoming migrants. But he acknowledged that relaxing immigration laws "was not easy". Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Gates added that governments were dealing with "tight budgets". However, he emphasised that the issue was largely a political one, and that "the total number of refugees is not a world record". Ethiopian example Mr Gates, who runs the largest charitable foundation in the world, said that economic development would stem the tide of migration from some countries. He cited Ethiopia, which used to be a source of refugees, but has now taken in "more than any other African country". This reversal, Mr Gates added, was "partly because we've invested in agriculture, governments had good policies, so food productivity is up very dramatically - over 50% in the last five years". As for those fleeing conflict zones, Mr Gates said the priority should be to get medicines such as cholera vaccines into refugee camps, and to help children living in them continue their education. 'Amazing' progress However, Mr Gates was keen to strike a note of optimism, at a conference that has been weighed down with worries over instability in global markets, the fall in oil prices, and rising inequality. "It's quite amazing, over the last 25 years, that we've cut childhood death in half," he said, referring to the Gates Foundation's work in eradicating disease. "We've got polio, that was crippling over 300,000 children a year, last year it was 70." The Foundation, which has an endowment of over $40bn, is now focusing on stamping out malaria, and despite the "corruption and short-termism" of some governments, Mr Gates said he was confident that his quest will be successful. New era The global elites in Davos this week have also been concerned about the "fourth revolution" - the increased automation in some industries, which, the World Economic Forum has warned, "will cost millions of jobs and hit women hardest". But Mr Gates was adamant that technological advances are overwhelmingly a cause for celebration. "It's amazing how many farming jobs we got rid of, he said. "The US feeds itself with less that 2% of the population. That's really a very good thing. "Until every old person is well taken care off, every handicapped kid has round the clock support, we can take labour and do great things with it. "Anything that allows us to make the goods we're making today with less labour, that just gives society more options." Although he cautioned that governments would need to retrain people, and soften the blows to various industries, Mr Gates, who has described himself as an "impatient optimist", said that "innovation is on our side". "Basically, the world is getting better." http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35381129 Smart man. His thoughts on the future of human labour are particularly interesting. People are worried about mass joblessness, but it will mainly be mass retraining. However the problem of inequality may get worse. That's something he'll blissfully ignore, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etsen3 Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 I've always thought it would be cool to have a world where all menial tasks are done by robots, allowing humans to pursue more creative endeavours. Indeed this has been taking place already since the industrial revolution. The population has progressively become more white-collar, urban, prosperous and educated. Unfortunately education is constantly becoming more necessary, and more inaccessible, screwing over those who can't afford it. There will be huge problems if those whose jobs are replaced can't upgrade their skills for new positions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted January 22, 2016 Author Share Posted January 22, 2016 5 minutes ago, etsen3 said: I've always thought it would be cool to have a world where all menial tasks are done by robots, allowing humans to pursue more creative endeavours. Indeed this has been taking place already since the industrial revolution. The population has progressively become more white-collar, urban, prosperous and educated. Unfortunately education is constantly becoming more necessary, and more inaccessible, screwing over those who can't afford it. There will be huge problems if those whose jobs are replaced can't upgrade their skills for new positions. There will be a need to boost the level of public education, probably include post-secondary as free. However, the establishment using it as a profit stream right now would fight that to the bitter end. Otherwise education over the internet or other tech would be the way, but recognition of it would also be fought by current establishment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etsen3 Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 1 hour ago, TOMapleLaughs said: There will be a need to boost the level of public education, probably include post-secondary as free. However, the establishment using it as a profit stream right now would fight that to the bitter end. Otherwise education over the internet or other tech would be the way, but recognition of it would also be fought by current establishment. I think free post secondary education is on it's way, more and more governments seem to be moving toward it. 10 years ago I wouldn't have said that, but the "free post-secondary" movement seems to be picking up momentum. This of course doesn't solve the problem of a highly competitive job market as degrees would be devalued even further. However, a more educated general populace is never be a bad thing and will likely result in more prosperity for all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tre Mac Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Mr. Gates you owe me $189.99 for a defective X-Box 360. Pay up or I'll give you the RROD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kragar Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 1 hour ago, etsen3 said: I think free post secondary education is on it's way, more and more governments seem to be moving toward it. 10 years ago I wouldn't have said that, but the "free post-secondary" movement seems to be picking up momentum. This of course doesn't solve the problem of a highly competitive job market as degrees would be devalued even further. However, a more educated general populace is never be a bad thing and will likely result in more prosperity for all. As long as the education is useful, yep. I'm generally not in favor of free post secondary. To have it free, there would need to be strict controls as to who gets it. Those who have worked and gotten good grades in high school, coupled with those taking courses that will lead to jobs in demand (or expected to be in demand). Also, the education has to continue to be earned... poor grades in university means you need to start paying their own way, or find something more suitable their skill set. The last thing we need is government funding to put a bunch of kids through school to learn something that doesn't have much foreseeable benefit, and take up space from someone more deserving of the education. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkyard Dog Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Bill Gates for president. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 It's really easy for him to say such stupid stuff, because those refugees are in no way ever going to have a direct impact on his daily life. How about his government builds a nice big refugee camp beside his estate? I bet he changes his suggestion real fast. He's just another super wealthy person, who has lost all sense of reality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M A K A V E L I 96 Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 4 minutes ago, Alflives said: It's really easy for him to say such stupid stuff, because those refugees are in no way ever going to have a direct impact on his daily life. How about his government builds a nice big refugee camp beside his estate? I bet he changes his suggestion real fast. He's just another super wealthy person, who has lost all sense of reality. How about the direct negative impact the US has had on so much of the world? They should take in every single refugee as they are responsible for creating the conditions for this crisis. No Iraq war -> No ISIS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFirstLine Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 23 minutes ago, Alflives said: It's really easy for him to say such stupid stuff, because those refugees are in no way ever going to have a direct impact on his daily life. How about his government builds a nice big refugee camp beside his estate? I bet he changes his suggestion real fast. He's just another super wealthy person, who has lost all sense of reality. I think I'll trust his word and "sense of reality" over yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 15 minutes ago, M A K A V E L I 96 said: How about the direct negative impact the US has had on so much of the world? They should take in every single refugee as they are responsible for creating the conditions for this crisis. No Iraq war -> No ISIS. I don't disagree with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alflives Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Just now, TheFirstLine said: I think I'll trust his word and "sense of reality" over yours. You think Bill Gates remembers what it's like to be one of the masses, who are directly affected by government policies? Really? The guy is a multi billionaire! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugor Hill Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Do refugees use Windows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 4 hours ago, TOMapleLaughs said: There will be a need to boost the level of public education, probably include post-secondary as free. However, the establishment using it as a profit stream right now would fight that to the bitter end. Otherwise education over the internet or other tech would be the way, but recognition of it would also be fought by current establishment. It's actually pretty amazing what skills you can teach yourself for free these days with Youtube videos and blog/forum posts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 40 minutes ago, Kragar said: As long as the education is useful, yep. I'm generally not in favor of free post secondary. To have it free, there would need to be strict controls as to who gets it. Those who have worked and gotten good grades in high school, coupled with those taking courses that will lead to jobs in demand (or expected to be in demand). Also, the education has to continue to be earned... poor grades in university means you need to start paying their own way, or find something more suitable their skill set. The last thing we need is government funding to put a bunch of kids through school to learn something that doesn't have much foreseeable benefit, and take up space from someone more deserving of the education. We'd need a federal education ministry to accomplish this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugor Hill Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 1 minute ago, J.R. said: It's actually pretty amazing what skills you can teach yourself for free these days with Youtube videos and blog/forum posts The traditional system of education, at least above the secondary education, is broken. It is expensive, un-inclusive, out of date, and ineffective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kragar Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 5 minutes ago, J.R. said: We'd need a federal education ministry to accomplish this... One reason I am not so much in favor of the free post-secondary education. The feds may not manage the system to the best of the individual provinces/states needs or plans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Just now, Kragar said: One reason I am not so much in favor of the free post-secondary education. The feds may not manage the system to the best of the individual provinces/states needs or plans. The feds not managing anything is part of the problem. There's no oversight or planning to ensure that provinces are actually training/educating workers for jobs the country needs/wants in the future and perhaps more importantly that universities are more concerned with profits/grades/reputation over actually producing qualified, needed workers. There's literally no plan and we should be embarrassed as a country that we're basically just 'winging it'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kragar Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 2 minutes ago, J.R. said: The feds not managing anything is part of the problem. There's no oversight or planning to ensure that provinces are actually training/educating workers for jobs the country needs/wants in the future and perhaps more importantly that universities are more concerned with profits/grades/reputation over actually producing qualified, needed workers. There's literally no plan and we should be embarrassed as a country that we're basically just 'winging it'. I guess you have more faith in the feds than I do. The lack of a plan is unsettling, I agree, and I don't think things are heading in the right direction. I'm just not sure it gets any better if the feds oversee things, given how it has worked out down here, between No Child Left Behind and Common Core. Add on the amount of multiple-choice testing (because its easier/cheaper to grade) going on in colleges (and I assume high school), and the quality of testing is pretty weak here, since there are less chances for people to show their work or thought processes, or to articulate a coherent response to questions. Do you have teachers having to teach to the tests up there, like we do down here? I'm sure that doesn't help either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanucksSayEh Posted January 22, 2016 Share Posted January 22, 2016 Like that episode of the wire, where they pretty much give students the test in advance and try to tell them how to answer each question but still can't figure it out. lols. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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