I always find it so disingenuous when billionaires turn on capitalism. They’ve made their fortunes yet decry tax cuts, blame capitalist countries for poor countries, turn to the advocacy of a socialist state. Like Warren Buffett calling for the increase of taxes yet I don’t see Warren Buffett giving half or more of his wealth to the federal coffers. No one is stopping him. If he thinks there should be a death tax then Warren should bequeath his billions all to the federal coffers instead of reducing his children’s heritage to only a measly billion and protecting the rest of his billions behind a charitable tax shelter. As Milton Friedman taught and advocated, capitalism is the catalyst for change in poor countries, not foreign aid. Socialism, communism and dictatorships are the greatest enemies to the poor.

Now Bill Gates is blaming capitalist countries for the state of poor countries. Larry Kudlow brings the skinny on Gates’ ridiculous statements at a the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Bill Gates, bloviating at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is issuing a clarion call for a “kinder capitalism” to aid the world’s poor. Mr. Gates says he has grown impatient with the shortcomings of capitalism. He thinks it’s failing much of the world. This, of course, from a guy who’s worth around $35 billion (give or take a billion).

Don’t you just love it?

A guy without a college degree who invented a new technology process in his garage that literally changed the entire world, a guy who took advantage of all the great opportunities that a free and capitalist society has to offer and got filthy rich in the process, is now trashing capitalism and telling us it doesn’t work. What chutzpah.

Kudlow goes on to talk about successful countries moving into the capitalist world while countries turning to a non-capitalist economy are becoming mired in strife and poverty.

Is no one willing to tell Bill Gates how ignorant he sounds?

Technorati Tags: Bill Gates, Capitalism, Milton Friedman, World Economic Forum