Giving is the way out of poverty

Mexican Carlos Slim.
His innovations have taken a new twist. This time, instead of amassing riches, he is giving it out for the good of all. Interestingly both ventures, creating wealth and philanthropy, are a success for Gates. So successful is Gates that he had the confidence to take both good and rotten cassava to this year 2012, Davos for presentation at the World Economic Forum, a high profile event typically associated with caviar.
In addition to material wealth, success includes good health, energy and enthusiasm for life, fulfilling relationships, creative freedom, spiritual, emotional and psychological stability, a sense of well-being and peace of mind. Wrongly, many people tend to limit success to financial and material terms, and thus miss out on the true joy of life. The joy of fulfilling one’s desires with effortless ease is how nature or the universe provides for us, rather that the gruelling hard labour, upon which current global system is founded.
Thus true success is measured through giving and receiving, which are age old principles upon which the universe is designed to avail abundance to all creation.
There is a lot of literature in both secular and spiritual languages, which teach us on the need to be in harmony or in unity with divine systems. Disunity, bring about sickness, poverty, environmental challenges, wars and general lack instead of abundance.
One the other hand, giving and receiving ensure consistent flow of provisions, just as the flow of blood ensures nourishment to all our body systems. Any amount of hoarding exerts pressure on the universal trading system and constricts free flow of wealth and provisions.
This insight and vision, which some have relegated to churches and charity bodies, others doubt it totally, others have abused it and yet others still are loyal to, is what Gates is now being innovative about.
Eradicating polio for instance is one of his goals for a better world. His philanthropy is on a grand scale. He plans to eradicate diseases in his lifetime that have plagued humanity for thousands of years. The Bill and Melinda Foundation is the world’s largest philanthropic organisation which donates about US$300 million a year to agriculture projects, a little more than one-tenth of its overall annual commitments. About half of the organisation’s money goes to health care, including efforts to fight AIDS, polio and malaria, while the rest is dedicated to education and other programmes.
The novelty about Bill Gates’ latest philanthropic interests is in the realisation that if the wealthiest individuals and families do not give, then the global wealth creation system will simply dry up.
Watching men and women at Davos, painstakingly trying to place their fingers on the cause and solutions to the economic downturn and the euro zone crisis, it is evident that these political and economic leaders have run out of ideas.
When corporate leadership realises and deliberately engage in a culture of giving, more wealth will be shared and therefore released into circulation. More work gets done with ease and greater success and ultimate benefit for all also gets realised.
Social responsibility becomes the corporate culture and the multitudes forms of rot are eliminated. Junior Murchison said, “Money is like manure. If you spread it around it does a lot of good. But if you pile it up in one place it stinks like hell”.
In societies across the world, there are lots of examples of individuals who once received large amounts of riches, but failed to give and share, there lifestyles in many ways became like a pile of manure. This pattern follows the principles of the universe, which operates through dynamic exchange.
This exchange must be kept flowing through giving and receiving. The corporate, has in its custody large sums of money, which although some of it is released through taxes, more through the principle of giving must be shared, thankfully.
Gates is applying the same attention to detail that made him such a business success into his new found passion of saving lives. This illustrates the enthusiasm which can only come through a grateful and joyful spirit. When addressing a school in the UK recently, Bill Gates explained how his foundation was systematically working to get rid of every last case of polio, a scourge which paralysed hundreds and thousands of people each year. The giving is not only limited to money or financial means, but also time and whatever it is that one desires to see in abundant supply. Some societies believe in this principle of giving and receiving, so much that they will give something, even if it a flower or a smile to each person they came across. One of the first things taught to a small child is to give and receive. Here in Africa, businesses do not have to look far to find opportunities to give. Poverty in our resource rich continent is prevalent. It is one area, which if every corporate on the continent would make it their goal to eradicate, should soon fade away.
In fact, every corporate governance system should consider poverty a risk factor to the long term sustainability of business. When a business is surrounded by poverty, it does not flourish. Enjoying the fruits of the business, among the poor is impossible as one will constantly be reminded of poverty and someone will always want to take their place. I believe that the corporate leadership is able and can stand up to this challenge if they set their minds to it. The goal is equity.
As if philanthropy is not enough for Gates, he recently appeared in one television programme, saying that he believes the rich in America, are currently not paying enough taxes and that they should pay more. This language is not common in the corporate world. A transformation is certainly taking place among the likes of Gates, members of the Giving Pledge and other wealthy people around the world including China.
Poverty eradication can not be left to governments. The corporate has a role to play. If they diligently apply the same success factors in their businesses to the poverty eradication cause, it should be possible to turn millions of people living in poverty, into a productive society, one which has the capacity to give and receive.
In that way the universe is kept busy in productive and not destructive pursuits. It then becomes possible for nations to enjoy peace and harmony. Many business people have admired Bill Gates for having been among the richest man in the world. He provided solutions to the ICT sector which almost every one of the 7 billion people around the world has directly or indirectly benefited from.
Now he is onto providing a different kind of solution, this time to a poignant challenge to humanity, through giving. How many in the corporate leadership will not only admire, but also emulate Gates?
l The writer is a researcher and consultant in governance