Bill Gates shows his true self: Big houses and private jets for him, no beef for you. Fighting climate change requires it and other sacrifices even more dramatic than the coronavirus lockdowns as we get ready for the Great Reset of capitalism as we know it. Aren’t you excited?
“I do think all rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef,” so says former Microsoft CEO and one of the richest men in the world, Bill Gates. Methane emissions are the target, cow farts are the cause, and your dinner plate must pay the price, but don’t worry. Gates continues, “You can get used to the taste difference, and the claim is they’re going to make it taste even better over time.”
Sounds fantastic, it may suck now, but like Windows itself when Bill was in charge back in the 1990s, it’ll get better, you betcha. “Eventually, that green premium is modest enough that you can sort of change the [behavior of] people or use regulation to totally shift the demand.” Actually, maybe you should worry: Mr. Gates went from a voluntary change in behavior to forcing you to change your behavior with a single “or.”
How else should we read “use regulation” except to assume he’s referring to an authoritarian government fiat? Otherwise known as their solution to everything from COVID-19 to Global Warming. Mr. Gate’s new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need is out and he’s talking it up with everyone from MIT Technology Review to Project Syndicate.
Apparently, saving the planet is going to require both big dollars for green energy and “innovation in policy.” What might that innovation entail other than banning meat? Amazingly, the interview with Project Syndicate jumps right into comparisons to how we handled COVID-19. I’m not sure Gates or the interviewer is making an intentional connection, but it seems strange that “innovation in policy” could be so easily connected to lockdown restrictions.
Yet, there it is. The interviewer, Connie Hedegaard, notes, “The COVID-19 pandemic not only highlighted the costs of ignoring science, but also proved that rapid, large-scale behavioral change is possible, and showed that leaders who take responsibility for addressing problems can gain respect.” Gates replies that “we all have to do our parts by wearing masks and distancing, individuals also need to play a role in reducing emissions.”
Forgive me if that doesn’t provide a warm and fuzzy feeling 11 months into 15-days to slow the spread. Throughout the interview, Gates repeatedly refers to his Breakthrough Energy initiative. According to their website, Breakthrough Energy was “Established in 2015 by Bill Gates and a coalition of private investors concerned about the impacts of accelerating climate change, Breakthrough Energy supports the innovations that will lead the world to net-zero emissions.”
Otherwise, it’s difficult to determine what they actually do. In one sense, they are investors funding new technologies. It’s their money, that’s good. In another, however, they reference “public-private partnerships that Gates has already used to transform health, education, and public welfare around the world.”
What exactly are they referring to here? Did I miss some radical transformation for the better in those industries? Given that Obamacare is almost universally decried as a disaster on both the left and the right and that our public school system remains an absolute train wreck, I’m not quite confident Gates is pushing the kind of transformation we want or need. The site goes on to describe Breakthrough Energy as a “a network of entities and initiatives, including investment funds, nonprofit and philanthropic programs, and policy efforts.”
The policy efforts are, of course, what should concern us most. According to Gates, we need government action that will be “targeted, robust, and predictable.” How robust?
Well, more robust than the COVID-19 response, apparently. Of course, they don’t really come out and say it, but let’s read between the lines. Ms. Hedegaard notes that the response to COVID-19, massive as it was, “also carried another crucial lesson: the relatively small (10%) reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions that global lockdowns produced showed that behavioral changes like flying or driving less are nowhere near enough.”
Read that again: The most dramatic global government interference in the world economy in modern — if not all — history is “nowhere” near enough to stop Global Warming. Millions lost their jobs, tens of millions were ordered to stay in their homes, any significant gathering space was shut down entirely, travel between countries was severely restricted or eliminated entirely. These edicts were enforced by fines or jail times in some places, but these radical changes, even if enacted permanently, simply won’t do it.
Gates agrees, “One lesson is the flip side of the idea that flying or driving less isn’t enough.” To be fair, he does claim that “We need a massive amount of innovation so that people can fly, drive, and otherwise participate in the modern economy without causing emission,” but none of those technologies currently exist. They will almost certainly not be ready at scale in less than 30 years and he most certainly knows it.
Therefore, we’re left with policy alone and that policy will surely place restrictions on you and me. This is doubly true when Gates himself, in the interview with MIT Technology Review, places restrictions on the very innovations he claims to espouse. Cows must go because, despite any advances in technology, he believes there’s no way to either reduce the emissions or, dare I suggest, capture them. “There are all the things where they feed them different food, like there’s this one compound that gives you a 20% reduction [in methane emissions],” Gates said. “But sadly, those bacteria [in their digestive system that produce methane] are a necessary part of breaking down the grass. And so I don’t know if there’ll be some natural approach there. I’m afraid the synthetic [protein alternatives like plant-based burgers] will be required for at least the beef thing.”
“At least the beef thing,” meaning there may be many other things that technology can’t do and only outright bans will. This is apparently what Gates considers “innovative” policies.
In his book, Gates notes, “Beyond finding ways to make materials with zero emissions, we can simply use less stuff.” Once again, don’t worry, one of the world’s richest men is starting with himself. “As I mention in the book, I’m taking a number of steps to reduce and offset my own emissions,” he claims. What are these steps? Well, he’s bought “clean aviation fuel” for his private jet, he’s paid to replace natural-gas with electric heat in low income housing projects, and he’s sent money to Climeworks.
Ultimately though, even Gates admits “I am aware that I’m an imperfect messenger on climate change. The world is not exactly lacking in rich men with big ideas about what other people should do, or who think technology can fix any problem. I own big houses and fly in private planes – in fact, I took one to Paris for the climate conference, so who am I to lecture anyone on the environment?”
Translation: Gates has a carbon footprint the size of a small town if not larger. He can afford to “offset” it by purchasing indulgences and he has no plans to change his lifestyle. None of what he is proposing will affect him in any meaningful way. You, however, must change yours. You will be affected, greatly, from what’s on your plate at dinner to everything else.
If you need any more evidence for how little Gates cares about your life and your lifestyle, he spoke to Fox News in September of last year about the pandemic. “The end of the epidemic, best case, is probably 2022. But during 2021, the numbers, we should be able to drive them down, if we take the global approach, ” Gates said. “So, you know, thank goodness vaccine technology was there, that the funding came up, that the companies put their best people on it. That’s why I’m optimistic this won’t last indefinitely.”
“Optimistic” you won’t be locked in your homes and put out of work “indefinitely,” but the “best case,” at the time, was more than a year longer. This was 6 months into the lockdowns, so Gates had no problem locking down the world for 2 full years. Again, he’s got more billions than he can count and continues to live lavishly throughout, but you aren’t so lucky.
It’s triply true when you consider that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a sponsor of the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset. Not content to simply to revolutionize technology, healthcare, and the environment, Gates and company now seek to remake the entire economy in their image. The Great Reset believes “The Covid-19 crisis, and the political, economic and social disruptions it has caused, is fundamentally changing the traditional context for decision-making.” Their goal is to help “inform all those determining the future state of global relations, the direction of national economies, the priorities of societies, the nature of business models and the management of a global commons.”
Once again, the coronavirus pandemic is being used as a springboard for other plans, and, of course, the new government powers exercised during the pandemic are just the start.
The architect of the supposed Great Reset is Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. He explains “To achieve a better outcome, the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies, from education to social contracts and working conditions. Every country, from the United States to China, must participate, and every industry, from oil and gas to tech, must be transformed. In short, we need a ‘Great Reset’ of capitalism.”
The details remain unclear, but apparently beef will no longer be on the menu in this brave new world. I understand that many people view Climate Change as an urgent crisis, but everyone should also consider exactly what the establishment is planning to do to address it. Think of it this way: If a worldwide lockdown, made in perpetuity, isn’t enough in their minds, what ever will be?
Innovation, of course, is the answer, but even then their plan is to spend billions upon billions of dollars on unproven technologies, hoping not only that the new technology will be invented (possible if not likely) but also made available at a massive scale in record time (unlikely if not impossible). There are other ways to address a crisis, however.
In addition to prevention, you can pursue mitigation strategies: Capture carbon, protect coastlines, manage other potential problems.
Of course, this isn’t nearly as sexy as remaking the entire planet, but it’s also how humanity has dealt with everything from disease to environmental catastrophe for thousands of years. We still can’t cure the common cold, but we can mitigate the symptoms. Likewise, I find it impossible to believe that we cannot filter carbon and shore up coastlines. Now, however, nothing will ever be good enough: Let them eat fake meat, and do whatever else we say. Sounds like a winning strategy, if you’re the “we” in that sentence.
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 
A good post! Thank you 😊
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