Billionaire software baron Bill Gates has made the bold prediction that there will be almost no poor countries left by 2035.
In the sixth annual letter published by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr Gates says that there are already clear signs of progress.
"By almost any measure, the world is better than it has ever been," he wrote in the letter.
"People are living longer, healthier lives. Many nations that were aid recipients are now self-sufficient."
Countries once considered poor, such as China, India, Brazil and even Botswana, now have growing economies, he says.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-22/b ... 35/5213712
Obviously Mr Gates doesn't read peakoil.com, let alone dieoff.org!
What kind of bubble does being the richest man in the world put him in? This annual 'letter on the state of the world' is severely delusional. Seems he is just looking at the upsloping graphic indicators and making technotopian conclusions based largely on feeling good about himself.
But it is not all smooth sailing according Mr Gates, who cites North Korea as one country that will be held back by war and politics.
He says inequality will continue in every region.
While the percentage of very poor people has more than halved since 1990, 1 billion people still live in extreme poverty.
That is the same point highlighted by aid agency Oxfam International in a recent report that puts into stark relief the global divide between rich and poor.
The report found just 85 people - including Mr Gates - control as much wealth as the poorest half of the global population.
"The biggest danger is that this small group of very wealthy people also capture political power," Oxfam's executive director Winnie Byanyima said.
Inequality and corruption have been blamed for the mass protest movements that have emerged in Brazil, Spain, Turkey and Thailand.
So there will be increasing inequality and decreasing poverty for 20 years at least, without a hint of irony... Just great.... Of course it must be true as Bill is just so damned good right?
