“By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world.”

This claim, made by Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and renowned philanthropist, is the highlight of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s annual letter.  At first, the claim seems overly optimistic at best and downright far-fetched at worst.  However, Gates has a plan that is perfectly sound on every level.

Throughout the letter, Gates and his wife Melinda dispel myths commonly associated with impoverished countries.  They focus on three in particular and use statistics, documented results and simple logic to debunk them.  From a liberal standpoint, the most important myth mentioned is that foreign aid is a waste of funds.

Gates says US citizens believe that around 25% of the current budget goes to foreign aid.  The same poll shows Americans feel like the percentage should be around 10%.  The reality is the percentage of the United States’ budget dedicated to foreign aid is less than 1%.

This is unacceptably low and needs to change.

It’s been a longstanding doctrine of liberal politics to better the world by improving conditions for all who live in it.  We have recently seen an uptick in this movement within United States borders.  Poverty programs have moved to the forefront of American politics and candidates have won or lost significant support based on their plans for the poor.

What Gates is doing here is challenging the developed nations of the world, especially the United States, to take a more aggressive approach to eradicating poverty worldwide. At one point in the letter, Gates goes so far as to call on the United Nations to address the poverty problem. “If this vision is reflected in the next round of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals,” he says, “it will help get everyone working on this milestone.”

In an interview with CBS, Gates was asked how he claims the world is “better than it has ever been” when recent studies show that 85 people in the world own as much wealth as 50% of the population.  Gates pointed out that his claim centers around decreasing infant mortality rates and increasing life expectancies on a global scale.

The picture that Gates paints is of a world that seems too good to be true.  However, if developed nations can approach this reality with a more liberal attitude, Gates’ prediction may well come true.

Foreign aid is crucial to developing nations and as Gates points out, there is a common misconception that this aid is ultimately ineffective.  While the attitude itself is incorrect, Gates brings up a point that has much more dire implications.  Due to this false belief, public officials sometimes justify cutting back on foreign aid spending.

The reality is that every dime spent in support of developing nations does more to further global economic growth than could possibly be calculated.  With election season looming, one can only hope that public officials see the truth in Gates’ words, heed his advice and stop pretending that global poverty can’t be helped.  We have the means to eliminate it; all we have to do now is act.

Chris Piemonte is a senior political philosophy major. He can be reached at [email protected].

 

Published on January 28, 2014 at 2:04 am