I believe Bill Gates to be the most ethical and moral of the four philanthropists. While I may be simply uninformed and unaware of current events in the technology industry, I do not think Bill Gates has nearly as much ethical criticism as Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook and has implemented many programs to improve global health and education. While according to the optional article on the Gates Foundation’s effectiveness in battling these issues, the foundation has struggled to make a notable impact, I think it is more important to consider his intentions and the amount of effort and money that he has committed to solving social problems. I do not think it is fair to hold him to a higher standard in improving the national education system when we as an entire society have not found the solution. While his education reform movement did not prove to be as effective as intended, I am not sure what more we could ask him to do than design a possible solution and implement the program to its fullest. I believe that his willingness to spend so much time and money on issues he finds important and critical to improving the quality of life itself is enough to show me that he is the most moral. In addition, while his program ended up being rather ineffective, I admire his willingness to return to the drawing board to come up with another solution. Altogether, I feel this makes him the most ethical and further, has had the most positive impact on the world. I strongly believe that in order to have a positive impact on the world, one must also be moral and ethical. Morals and ethics are an individual’s cornerstone that influences every decision he makes and they underlie his ability to enact social changes. Therefore, while it may be time to refocus work on new issues and solutions, I respect Bill Gates and the work his foundation has implemented all over the world and I do not believe that his programs’ ineffectiveness in any way hinders his morality.
On the other hand, I feel that Mark Zuckerberg is the least moral and ethical of the philanthropists. While the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has undertaken the responsibility of working for positive social change and Facebook has been successful in connecting people with each other and the global community, he has still had the most ethical criticism, especially when it comes to issues like privacy or freedom of speech. As discussed earlier, I do not feel that someone could be effective in impacting the world in a positive way if he is not moral or ethical, therefore I question his ability to be as influential and successful as Bill Gates in this way. However I do believe that he has potential to reach this height if he continues to mature and grow as a philanthropist and in his character. I believe CZI has great social philanthropic ideas that could make a real lasting change if Zuckerberg is able to do so.
Ethics 