Yes, yes, money can buy a lot of things.
But it can't buy wisdom. Trust me, I've hung a bid out there for years. No one's hit it.
From The New York Post, November 25:
How Bill Gates came to own America’s heartland
Many are wondering how and why a software salesman like Bill Gates became a global health, food, and agriculture expert. How a man who made his billions revolutionizing personal computing became one of the largest private landowners in America. In his new book, “Controligarchs: Exposing the Billionaire Class, Their Secret Deals, and the Globalist Plot to Dominate Your Life,” author Seamus Bruner reveals the answers.
Bill Gates may be best known for his role in revolutionizing global technology and digital culture, but the past few decades have seen the mogul emerge as a potent force in agriculture and food production.
Yet rather than operating out of pure altruism, Gates’ investments in American farmland and fake meat may actually be less about “sustainability” and more about enriching himself by monopolizing the food supply. And he is using a strategy revealed by the landmark United States v. Microsoft Corp. antitrust case to do it.
In that famous lawsuit, settled in 2001, the United States accused Microsoft of illegally achieving and maintaining a monopoly in the computer market by placing restrictions on both manufacturers and computer users, thus preventing them from uninstalling Microsoft’s software. This unfairly eliminated competition, prosecutors alleged.
The trial revealed that Microsoft had an internal strategy called “Embrace-Extend-Extinguish,” which Gates has apparently adapted to corner other markets, including the agriculture and food markets.
First, Microsoft would “embrace” or enter a market; web browsers, for example. Next, Microsoft would “extend” its reach within that market; by installing its Internet Explorer software on every personal computer (PC).
The final step in the process was to “extinguish” (or “exterminate”) the competition; by leveraging Microsoft’s market dominance to push regulations and standards that competitors could not afford to comply with. The goal was to control the market and profits would follow. (The case ended with Microsoft agreeing to alter some of its business practices.)....
....MUCH MORE
Frankly, we might be better off with Gwyneth Paltrow's va-jay-jay scented candles.
