I love how he immediatly says "it has nothing to do with climate change", which wasn't even mentioned by the person who asked the question...
...and then he continues "it's because of climate change in Africa".
Someone asked him in his recent IAMA. I forgot what his reason was. Part of it was he was saying his investment team handles it and absolving himself.
Hitler saying he was just following orders from his soldiers.
Aww ghee shucks I don't know anything about, I just own it, and have more power over what happens on that land than a Feudal Monarch did over his kingdom.
Tbh I hate Gates but I do kinda buy this. My first job out of school was at an investment firm. No one there with anything close to Gates money, but plenty of really rich folks. Once you have more than a few million those people really get into esoteric investments. Farmland - from a capitalist pov mind you - is a pretty good investment. Generates steady income and holds it's value. I don't think there's anything really nefarious about him owning all that land other than he's a capitalist ghoul and all his wealth should be appropriated anyway.
As an aside, please for the love of god don't get an econ or business degree people, I'm begging you. Took me 15 years to find a job that didn't make me feel like shit.
Farmland - from a capitalist pov mind you - is a pretty good investment. Generates steady income and holds it’s value.
This is because the externalities are forced onto the farmers. When you take away the capitalist overlay and measure all the costs, our dominant mode of agriculture is not profitable. If all the costs were properly accounted for, it wouldn't make sense to farm a single acre of field corn or soybeans.
To control the food supply to a greater extent than is otherwise possible. Farmland is a useful asset if it is productive and you are anticipating a social collapse, so you can provide for yourself. (Though, obviously one person would not need that much land.)
Bourgeoisie set up their financial schemes to own (be liable for) nothing (such as taxes, lawsuits) and control everything (via indirect means, trusts, politicians, offshore companies, shareholding).
Gates thinks he is a farmer, also thinks he is a scientist, and with that much money, few people are willing to decline to endorse his delusions. He can basically be a little kid and pretend to be different things and he is taken seriously due to his wealth.
Farmland is a useful asset if it is productive and you are anticipating a social collapse, so you can provide for yourself.
If society collapses, then what is enforcing his private property claim? Whats stopping the presumed private security and farmers from just shaving him and marching him in the street nude?
The same reason why the workers of the world does not spontaneously rise up and upend the entire capitalist society right this second even thought we all can do it and the only thing stopping humanity is the thought that it is impossible.
Without consciousness and materialism, instead of thinking "why the fuck do I let this nerd orders me around", his mercs instead thinks "if I kill more refugees, surely Mr Gates will raise my ration!"
When Capitalism collapses, all the cops and soldiers and politicians just vanish into thin air like a thanos snap and everyone's stats are reset to zero.
Gates thinks he is a farmer, also thinks he is a scientist, and with that much money, few people are willing to decline to endorse his delusions. He can basically be a little kid and pretend to be different things and he is taken seriously due to his wealth.
Plot twist (hot take?): Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates have a 90% overlap in their characters.
That's lowballing it, they're all functionally identical. The only difference is how much they spend on their PR teams.
(Tens/hundreds of thousands, millions, billions in that order)
