The myth of capitalistic altruism

“Our invention offers an innovative way to transform sewage into drinkable water quite inexpensively for the poor countries of Africa,” says Bill Gates on a live TV show. Overwhelmed by the presence of one of the richest man on earth, participants of this live show enthusiastic approval to what Bill Gates wants to put across as a marketing strategy for his new product.

In a Yankees’ Kentucky accent to lure his audience into his new business proposition, Bill Gates offers an alternative and cost-efficient solution to the traditional capital-intensive sanitation systems of brick and mortar. In a carefully crafted, informal Yankee style, he asserts that this magic technological invention – the Omni Processor – will help transform all African sewage into potable water. He seems to be more passionate about Africa than the Africans are themselves and, by doing so, he reinforces– albeit inadvertently – the historically constructed psyche of orientalism.

The other side of this story of propagated altruism and creativity has not been told with similar enthusiasm by the modern media of the capitalist world. It is not about the persona of Bill Gates or his passion and personal drive to reach out to the poor per se. Instead, it is about the economic system that primarily defines actions and puts restraints on one’s ability to do good. A smart capitalist like Bill Gates knows the art of creating a business proposition out of social altruism. This helps him outcompete his potential business rivals who believe in the outright logic of the economics of profit maximisation. Both are interested in making money but the tactics of doing business differ. This is what makes Bill Gates superior to his competing bourgeoisie.

We are made to believe that capitalism is benevolent, humane and has potential to operate on a higher moral ground than other competing ideologies of politics and the economy. We are then told the success stories of George Soros, Steve Jobs, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg and others as if they were superhuman beings with the ability to rise above the ordinary folks.

These stories are put forth in defence of capitalism as the ultimate destination of creative human beings and the best possible destiny of human development and progress. With the rise of neoliberalism in the early 1990s, we saw several books written to proclaim the obsequies of socialism and the historical inevitability of capitalism.

Francis Fukuyama wrote his famous treatise on American capitalism as the ultimate destination of the historical progress towards a classless and equal society. His thesis, titled ‘The End of History’, gained popularity but soon lost its academic and political credence as neoliberalism disproved all those tall claims of economic and political equality. Instead, it brought about misery, destruction and conflicts with a much higher intensity than the world wars of the 20th century.

With the fall of state capitalism in the former USSR and the unabated miseries inflicted upon people by the unipolar world of Western capitalism, the world became a battleground for several interests.

Triggered by disillusionment, caused by poverty, disparity and alienation, these competing interests – including those of jihadi groups, nationalists and pacifists – strived to assert their ideologies as the best alternative to capitalism. Anti-capitalism has taken varying forms, ranging from armed struggles, suicide bombings, non-violent means of moral purification like Sufism and other pacifist/individualistic movements and environmental campaigns. Anti-cabalism movements are on the rise and can subsequently evolve into a large-scale resistance movement.

Those who want to build an alternative economic and political system must engage with these movements to steer them into a formidable progressive force. Our liberal mantra of benevolent capitalism – expressed through carefully chosen anecdotal evidences like that of Bill Gates’ altruism – trivialises the debate of political transformation.

The Melinda-Gates Foundation has invested $218 million into polio and measles immunisation and research and inoculations to protect health worldwide. At the same time, it has invested $423 million in companies like Eni, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and other such companies – which are responsible for most of the water contamination and the toxification of food beyond permissible limits in Africa. One of the largest investments of Bill Gates – up to $1 billion – has recently gone to Abbott Laboratories, Archer Daniels Midland, British Petroleum, Canadian National Railway, Exxon Mobil, Freddie Mac, Merck, Schering Plough, Tyco International and Waste Management, which has raised serious concerns about extractive capitalism being promoted in Africa.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has more than $60 billion at its disposal – higher than the total monetary volume of the GDP of 70 percent of the world’s nations. The foundation provides financial backing to large multinational corporations, which are directly responsible for polluting the same areas of Africa that are targeted for vaccines made by companies where Bill Gates has invested money. Social development investments are thus targeted to broaden the possibilities to generate new avenues of profitability.

Alternative and independent research studies in Africa suggest a strong correlation between diseases caused by water and soil contamination due to extractive capitalism and the commercialisation of vaccines and investment in pharmaceutical companies.

Most of these diseases affecting poor people in Africa and Asia have been caused by negligent multinational corporations seeking high profits. Doctors and scientists mistakenly believe that they are helping people by encouraging the use of toxic drugs and vaccines marketed by multinational corporations.

Unfortunately, Africa appears to be where this is occurring to a large extent and the poorest sections of society are suffering the most. They are being exploited twice: they are first being made sick through manufactured toxins which poison their bodies and again when that sickness is used to justify the purchase and use of many vaccines to theoretically prevent the human-made illnesses.

According to various assessment reports from local media sources, there is a strong pharmaceutical lobby involved in disease marketing in Africa. This strong lobby uses the same platforms of multinational companies, which are partly responsible for most of these diseases. Technological devices, like the Omni Processor, can also be an innovative way of creating a business out of the miseries of Africa.

Ironically, the clueless liberals of the developed world are also helping exploit the people of Africa and other underdeveloped countries. The more mandated vaccines which developed nations like the US are forced to use and pay high prices for, the wealthier the drug companies making vaccines get.

Vaccine manufacturers use the high profits they make out of American vaccine mandates to sell the drugs to poor countries like Africa at a reduced rate. And so, the poor and vulnerable Africans are exploited and left alone to suffer to enhance business possibilities to rich people like Bill Gates.

The poor will continue to pay the price for helping the businesses of the rich flourish and our liberals will continue to glorify the exploiters. But those who have the courage and vision to resist this system of exploitation and usurpation are the real people one should stand by. Citizens of the developed and developing world will continue to suffer until they stand up and stop the vicious business that perpetuates poverty, disparity, disease and famine in a world that is full of resources.

The writer is a freelance columnist based in Islamabad.

Email: ahnihal@yahoo.com