Melinda French Gates announces $1 billion donation to support women and families, including reproductive rights

I am once again simultaneously glad this is happening and infuriated that we live in a world where it is necessary for people suffering to rely on the largess of billionaires.

Sadly, even if that billion dollars was somehow taxed, the obstructionists in government would be sure to stop it from going to reproductive rights. So oddly enough a billionaire is the only way for this kind of good to happen.
- in the United States*
  There are other countries that manage taxes just fine.
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist."
But think of the tax implications for her and the congratulatory slaps on the back. See? The system works.
- You're right, fuck charitable giving and social work, you might in some way be incentivised to do it and then what's even the point?! We should just rage at the systemic issues from afar, that way we don't risk having some rando on the Internet think we're an asshole. 👍
- Donating to charity is bad then? Weird flex

Yay, a small portion of the taxes that the wealthy like her should have paid over the years that could have gone to the same thing but based on the decisions of society and not dependent on one wealthy person!

I agree that the insanely disproportionate taxes are causing more problems than donations are solving. However, as billionaires go, Bill and Melinda Gates are exceptionally philanthropic.
- Philanthropy is a way for people who created wealth on the backs of their underpaid employees in their businesses that broke multiple laws and dodged taxes. If they actually cared about people they would have paid higher wages or had profit sharing, and would not have pushed for tax breaks for the wealthy.
  Nobody calls a blue collar person who donates to charity a philanthropist.
- So they are some of the best of thieves and abusers.
- Bill and Melinda WERE philanthropic. Then Bill did a cheat and eventually got divorced.
  She was always his better half. Bill has always been a piece of shit business man and only started his philanthropy due to Melinda. That's why there's not so much of that same philanthropy from ol' Microsoft, himself, as of late.
- And they could be just as philanthropic while also paying their fair share of taxes because they're just that rich.
- Indeed. Now she has only ca. USD$11B left over to survive with. She can buy only five, possibly six Sentinel ICBMs.
  What We Want Now
  !detroit@midwest.social &star; !michigan@midwest.social &star; !music@midwest.social
Trump would have put it into a wall and Big Macs for his Cheeto-dusted minions.
"The decisions of society" is how we got Trump and enough wrong-wing Supreme Court Justices to eliminate reproductive rights. You really think the billions we could get in taxes from the billionaires would be wasted on restoring rights and supporting women and children, when there's a military industrial complex to feed? Until the day capitalism collapses, Melinda Gates and MacKenzie Scotts should be praised. Not for their own egos, but in order to entice those who live by "what's in it for me?" into better uses of their obscene wealth than yachts.
- I'm not going to praise people for giving back a small portion of their ill gotten gains. That would be like praising the mob for opening soup kitchens with the money they made through criminal enterprise.

I knew when I read these comments people would be criticising her.

Right? What a POS for giving 10% of her net worth for women’s reproductive rights.

Giving one single person power like this, is not right. You get to pick and choose what is important and what isn't. That is why we pay taxes so it can help more people in a wide range of programs.

Just like their drive to rid the world of Malaria. Organizations reported Malaria as not an issue in their area but due to the money coming from them, they had to switch their focus to Malaria.

Plus, lets not forget how tuwy mad their mpney by destroying other companies and creating a monopoly. In close meetings, these people are not fighting to be taxed. They are buy politicians and protecting their wealth.

This is a policy failure.

Eat. Billionaires.

Oh, look... the capitalist parasites are laundering their legacies again.

Melinda > Bill

I mean, when you can't hide your side piece and your relationship with Epstein goes public, can you really blame her

All billionaires are bad. Especially the Gateses.

Article doesn't list a single charity or organization that she is "supporting". Just a vague "reproductive rights" name for the headlines. Launder it harder Melinda.

Predictable comment section is predictable.

Should have created a charity to give out knee high socks or something, I guess. I dunno.

I'd like to understand how tax evasion works on Empire (aka USA)