A conversation with Bill Gates

"Bill Gates: “The Corona Virus… is sent to remind us of the important lessons that we seem to have forgotten and it is up to us if we will learn them or not.”

The above quote and much more has been attributed to Bill Gates.  It has been sent to me several times, and honestly, I am tired of it.  Some people have pointed out that it has been falsely attributed, that he did not say it at all.  That does not make it less problematic - why would people attribute such   thinking to a man who is actually a part of the problem.  This is not a conspiracy theory.  I am not saying that Microsoft or the Gates Foundation manufactured the new corona virus, but if you can stomach reading the rest of the message - you will understand my rant. So just assuming he did say all of this, here is how I would respond!


Bill: [the COvid-19]Virus is is reminding us that we are all equal, regardless of our culture, religion, occupation, financial situation or how famous we are. This disease treats us all equally, perhaps we should too.

Me:I am sorry Bill, the disease may treat us equally but it is NOT a world in which we are all equal regardless of our culture, religion, occupation, financial situation or how famous we are.  Its not about Tom Hanks ad Prince Charles contracting the virus.  It's more about a world in which you were able to amass so much wealth that you were able to donate 100 million dollars to deal with the pandemic, with a smile.

Bill:   It is reminding us that false borders that we put up have little value as this virus does not need a passport.

Me: I do agree with that, Bill  Yes, we need to interrogate borders, because borders oppress many people including the migrant, the refugee and the stateless.

Bill:  It is reminding us, by oppressing us for a short time of those in this world whose whole life is spent in oppression

Me:  That's good Bill. But oppression is not a state one falls into just  like that. For people to spend their whole life in oppression there must be oppressors, people and systems that oppresss.  We also need to remind ourselves of the oppressors.

Bill: It is reminding us of how precious our health is and how we have moved to neglect it through eating nutrient poor manufactured food and drinking water that is contaminated with chemicals upon chemicals.

Me: Yes, we know our health is precious, but some of us have better chances of looking after it than others, especially in countries where access to health care and medicines are unaffordable to some. And yes we need to think of eating good food, but maybe we also need to  be reminded  about how our food security is compromised, and who it is that manufactures and distributes all that nutrient poor manufactured food you are talking about  and who it is that steals our spring  water to bottle it and sell it on a different market. 

Bill: It is reminding us of how materialistic our society has become and how, when in times of difficulty, we remember that it’s the essentials that we need (food, water, medicine) as opposed to the luxuries that we sometimes unnecessarily give value to.

Me: Yes, Bill,  our society is materialistic, but shouldn't we also remind ourselves who it is that that materialistic consumer-oriented society benefits? 

Bill: It is reminding us of how important our family and home life is, and how much we have neglected this. It is forcing us back into our houses so we can rebuild them into our home and to strengthen our family unit.

Me: So glad you understand this, Bill.  Our families are very important to us, but our less  than decent jobs make keeping our family together, alive and well a challenge even at the best of times.  As for our houses, some of us have had to fight to keep them from developers and local authorities that are gentrifying our neighbourhoods and trying to displace us. 

Bill: It is reminding us that the power of freewill is in our hands.

Me:  I am afraid this is  the one thing we cannot agree with you, Bill. . Many of us would like to exercise our free will but I am afraid it isn't in our hands.  There are powerful people out there who challenge us and try to shut us up and sometimes even threaten our lives...

So Bill, thank you for this conversation.  We too would like the Corona Virus Pandemic to correct these and other inequalities, but throwing money at it won't be the answer.  This is not to say we don't appreciate the 100 million dollars you gave towards dealing with the pandemic. But you did say we can choose to cooperate and help each other, to share, to give, to help and to support each other or we can choose to be selfish, to hoard, to look after only our self.  So I would like to remind you and the rest of the 1% that own more than 44.8% o the world's wealth, that this is the opportunity  to share that wealth, and to help restructure our global economy so that these stark inequalities will no longer exist.