Bill Gates: Entrepreneur Turned Philanthropist Sounds like a Socialist

Bill Gates is an inspiring human being.  As an entrepreneur and philanthropist, I strive to have but a fraction of the success that Gates has achieved in his life time.  I wonder what his level of spiritual development is?  I strongly believe that spiritual growth is not correlated with intellectual or worldly success; however, a person of great spiritual strength will certainly have the qualities of fortitude, sincerity, patience, vision and attention to detail in order to motivate people and make an excellent entrepreneur.  Gates appears to have all of these qualities

In this TED video, Gates shows himself in his ‘second career’ role as one of the biggest philanthropists in the world, aiming to tackle global problems, such as poverty and disease.  The one quote that I found most interesting in this speech, especially coming from a billionaire that has been one of capitalism’s greatest beneficiaries is the following – “The Market does not drive people to do the right things.” Has Bill Gates become a socialist?

In this video, Gates poses the question – how do you make a teacher great?  He highlights that the U.S. advantage over other countries is fading fast, and that over 30% of kids never finished High School (for minority kids, this rate is over a staggering 50%!)  Essentially, if you’re low income in U.S., you have a higher chance of going to jail than getting a 4-yr H.S. degree.

“Education is the most important thing to get right.” according to Bill Gates.  I would put a different spin on it, saying that the education of our consciousness is the most important thing.  We need to learn ethics and morals, not just technology and math, in order to be healthy and unified.  The ‘every man for himself’, competitive paradigm which has driven us to kill one another and to regard everyone as a rival, just doesn’t work anymore.  Gates’ commitment to humanity and comments about the insensitivity of market economics speaks to the point, and ought to be heeded by leaders and influencers worldwide.