A bold plan for Pope Francis, Bill Gates to save the world Commentary: Two leaders who can step up before we destroy the planet Yes, Pope Francis may call Bill Gates, get Gates to bring together his friends, the 67 billionaires who are as rich as half the world, the poorest 3.5 billion. Or Gates may make the call. Doesn’t matter who puts the ball in action. Pope Francis needs help in his mission to save the global economy from the rapidly accelerating triple threat of climate change, hunger and inequality. Fortunately Gates has a track record here: Back in 2009 he called billionaires Buffett, Rockefeller, Soros, Bloomberg, Turner, Oprah and other philanthropists to a secret meeting in the Manhattan home of Sir Paul Nurse, British Nobel biochemist and president of Rockefeller University. Again, in 2010 Gates created the “Giving Pledge” which now has 122 of the world’s Super Rich committing to give away half their fortunes in their lifetime. And there are even more wealthy folks to work with. The world is mass-producing billionaires: Today there are 1,645 billionaires compared with 322 in 2000, with $7 trillion. Forbes says the U.S. has 492, Europe 468, China 358, Russia 111, Latin America 85, India 65, Canada 29, Africa 29, and more. And at a time when cooperation is virtually impossible, Bill Gates’ experience offers a solution: Helping build a dream team from those 67 billionaire philanthropists, co-hosting with Pope Francis. Not so far-fetched either. Yes, Pope Francis has big issues with capitalism, but there’s still wisdom and virtue in Sun Tzu’s ancient advice to generals, keep friends close, your enemies closer. And the world certainly needs innovative solutions, fast. Besides, the trend promises to continue. The Super Rich will get richer: Credit Suisse Bank even predicts 11 trillionaire families by 2100. They are also superoptimistic, see the UN’s population estimates of another three billion by 2050 as new opportunities with more consumers. And if excess consumption and overpopulation become problems, the Super Rich have faith new technologies will create alternative resources, greater efficiencies that will save the planet. Yes, Pope Francis sees a different trend. But that’s all the more reason the pope should work with Gates and every billionaire ready to solve the impossible problems challenging our world. Bill and Melinda Gates are already committed, spending a fortune, changing the world. Pope Francis has the power base, the leadership skills, the authority to make things happen. Together they can rise above today’s battlefield of partisan politicians, competing anarchies, sovereign nations, dictators, myopic capitalists. Our polarized America is a perfect example of dysfunctional leadership. In the future, global teamwork will be essential for new solutions, timely action. By 2050 at current growth rates, three critical trends will have predictably imploded in a combustible critical mass, driving us over the edge of a proverbial cliff, past the known survival limits of human civilization and a sustainable planet. This be the first time in history, says noted anthropologist Jared Diamond, where climate change is an interlocking set of “time bombs with fuses of less than 50 years,” that “if unsolved would do us great harm, because they all interact with each other ... we need to solve them all,” turn off the ticking time-bomb. Pope Francis has already warned us of the three self-destructive trends: First: unsustainable global warming and climate change on Planet-Earth. Second: The pope says the global economy is “near collapse” as inequality increases, fueling revolutions. Third: Earth’s natural resources will be unable to feed the 10 billion people living in 2050. The three go hand-in-hand, merge, with trigger mechanisms cross-linked to ignite simultaneously. True, Pope Francis, Bill Gates and many other billionaires are already working on philanthropic projects of personal interest. Now it’s time to combine forces, see the world as one entity, search for common solutions. For as Ben Franklin put it during the signing of the Declaration of Independence back in 1776: “We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 18:47:35 +0000
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