[natural219]

Look, I'm not saying that anybody who engages in philanthropy is beyond criticism. We certainly need to be able to critically discuss these issues in order to provide the best help for those in need.

However, this should not mean that your criticism's of the Foundation's methods should reflect your opinion of Bill Gates The Man, or really provoke any kind of moral response other than "holy shit, this guy is a massive force for good in the world, and my entire life's work will amount to a hair compared to the work that Gates and the foundation has done."

Basically, if every comment here would have started with "Bravo and kudos to Mr. Gates and the foundation. I am concerned that some of their goals, however, are misguided...", then we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Secondly -- unless you've worked extensively with the developing world, there's a very large chance that you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about when it comes to the Foundation's efforts or goals. Developmental economics, for some reason, tends to attract much more armchair philosophers than other professions, and it's much worse because these systems we're dealing with are off-scale in terms of complexity and uncertainty.