Wednesday

Marshaling the unique talents of Bill Gates

5/14/2020 -
 
Following is a draft of proposed NYTimes OpEd written by Al Rodbell, in the voice of Noam Chomsky

The extent of polarization of our national politics is illustrated by something that could not happen to me, but did yesterday to the person who convinced me to write this OpEd for this newspaper. Al.R is my intellectual doppelganger, whose childhood did not provide the stimulation I was graced with that led to a life of academic achievements and political activism. Those who came of age before the turn of the century know of me, while those born later rarely do.  We wrote this OpEd together, coming to a shared conclusion from very different lives.  He describe this passing conversation that could only happen to one whose politics is not widely known.

"Walking home yesterday, I greeted a neighbor who is a clinical psychologist, and asked her whether she is busy now with couples who are together day and night without previous socializing.  She hesitated, interpreting my words as indicating that I was opposed to such regulations, and then concluded that I must be one among the angry, perhaps to the point of rage at those politicians who would deny my God given freedoms,  She was a bit ambiguous, but made the point that she sees no problem, and people are "doing O.K."  Without a single word of partisan politics, I was identified as a Trump supporter -- verifying the breadth of our toxic partisanship".

As of this moment in time, civility across the political divide is still possible.  Whether it will still be so when the campaign between the two political parties begins in earnest is doubtful. Al contacted me out of the blue about five years ago, having been frustrated by a refusal of this newspaper to print a retraction of a distortion of an appeals court decision - only a small element of the article. I replied with my own frustration that this paper over the years did the same to me- which was the beginning of our.connection. 
 
He  wrote the following to verify we are on a common tract:  It is self evident that the divisiveness between what is the TrumpRepublican party and the Democratic party is at an unsustainable level which will escalate with the campaign between the two putative candidates.  No matter who is elected, the results will be a presidential party that builds on vilification of the opposition.  A two party election will inevitably continue to exacerbate raw hatred of the other; exemplified by Pelosi ripping up the text of a vindictive presidential speech in the midst of an impeachment trial with no possibility of removal. 

 Bill Gates has been thrust into the limelight by the current pandemic, which he not only predicted but made an extraordinary effort to alert chief executives of countries throughout the world.  The allocation of his billions through the Bill and Milinda Gates Foundation are a mix of advanced scientific research to slow climate change to expanding latrines that prevent disease in the most impoverished countries of the world. 

 This recent article, "Bill Gates Has Regrets" in The Wall Street Journal lauding him showed in the comments, that the mostly Republican readers overwhelmingly admire him.  As of this moment, his being able to be nominated on the Libertarian ticket is still possible, This would be a variation of a third party run  Michael Bloomberg considered in 2016.  He wanted to be President with at least part of the incentive being fame, power and glory a normal component of ambition.. There is no evidence that Bill Gates,having earned such admiration as a private citizen, would desire, or even accept the Presidency.   
 
 All of the stability, the redundancy and depth of authority of the party system would be negated in a hypothetical Gates administration. The complex party apparatus from vice president to the cabinet to partisan think tanks and connections to state and local governments would be gone.  This would normally be enough to reject even one as admirable and talented as Gates transforming our party system.  But it has already been transformed, so the choice could be between the autocrat who is now in power and one who is truly trying to save the world. 

 One option that would preserve the existing party system, but also transform it, would be that Biden ask Gates to accept the Vice Presidency nomination.  He would be given the authority equivalent to Richard Cheney under the Bush administration, which was a full realization of the autonomy of the position.  He would be the antithesis of the Mike Pence who has no independent portfolio other than revering his President.  Joe Biden chose to promise that he would appoint a women with a strong hint it will be a person of color. This promise may have won the nomination for him, but it enshrines the simplistic and damaging elevation of identity politics over the reality that it is the individual, rather than his or her identity that should be evaluated in all aspects of public life. 

 We are at a pivotal time in history, where advances in technology, specifically artificial intelligence is reaching new levels of replacement of what had been human functions.  Simultaneously, the ubiquity of these systems have transformed how populations are influenced, along with vulnerabilities to corruption of even the most sensitive of networks.  Bill Gates' background as an innovator in this field would make his contributions as Vice President even more productive. 
 
With armed men now occupying state capital buildings and others threatening police who are enforcing social distancing regulations, we already have the beginning of armed insurrection  promoted by the President of the United States.  The upcoming election is the moment to take a stand, one that will only be effective if the opposition to autocracy is not a political party in disarray, but includes one individual who transcends this toxic partisanship.

Nothing could be more urgent than this.

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