'we Have The Opportunity To Create A Better World For Everyone' - Bill Gates

Money Stunna · 2014-01-21T21:26:00+00:00

Bill and Melinda Gates are amongst a few committed to making the world a better place. I am always moved by their desire to create a polio free world, tackling issues that relate to women and children especially in Africa. They are such an inspiring couple. Below are excerpts from the introduction to the 2014 Gates annual letter, published by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: The belief that the world is getting worse, that we can't solve extreme poverty and disease, isn't just mistaken. It is harmful. It can stall progress. It makes efforts to solve these problems seem pointless. It blinds us to the opportunity we have to create a world where almost everyone has a chance to prosper. When science historian James Burke wrote about the Renaissance in The Day the Universe Changed, he pointed to one source for many of the advances that happened in that amazing period: the shift from the belief that everything was decaying and getting worse to the realization that people can create and discover and make things better. We need a similar shift today, if we're going to take full advantage of the opportunity to improve life for everyone. In this year's annual letter, we chose to focus on 3 myths that keep the world from accelerating success against poverty and disease. I wrote about the first 2 myths, which relate to poverty and aid, and Melinda decided to write about the 3rd one, because it is related to her expertise in reproductive health. We hear these myths raised at international conferences and at social gatherings. We get asked about them by politicians, reporters, students, and CEOs. All 3 reflect a dim view of the future, one that says the world isn't improving but staying poor and sick, and getting overcrowded. We're going to make the opposite case, that the world is getting better, and that in two decades it will be better still. But that future isn't pre-ordained. To achieve it, we'll need to apply human ingenuity and act on our compassion. That starts with removing the barriers that undercut our confidence and slow our momentum. That's why in this year's letter Melinda and I take apart some of the myths that slow down the work. The next time you hear these myths, we hope you will do the same.

Thread starter Money Stunna
Start date Jan 22, 2014

Money Stunna

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'we Have The Opportunity To Create A Better World For Everyone' - Bill Gates

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