Melinda Gates's new book is The Moment Of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes The World.From the transcript of her interview with NPR's Michel Martin:
MARTIN: [Y]ou quote a friend several times in the book who was very skeptical of the ability of, quote, unquote, "American billionaires" to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those facing extreme poverty. I mean, right now, we're in a moment - not just in the United States, but around the world - when a lot of people are questioning - or they're asking, what is fundamentally fair?--Marshal Zeringue
And I wanted to ask you. It's true, your family's been extremely generous with your wealth. But some are asking now, what are the terms on which wealth is generated to begin with? Is that something you're prepared to discuss? Is that something you think, as a society, we should be talking about, and if so, how?
GATES: We should absolutely be talking about that as a society. I don't want my children to grow up in a society that has such large inequities. And so part of the reason that we work, for instance, on the U.S. education system is that is the best opportunity to reach a child in our country, to help lift them up and let them go on to thrive and have their best life.
But we have to step back as a society and say, what is it that's causing these inequities? We have to look at our tax policies. You know, Bill and I are on record saying we believe high-income people should pay more than a middle-income family than should pay more than a low-income family. And so it's time to revisit some of the tax policies, some of the regulations in our society.
But make no mistake, living in a capitalistic structure is a fabulous place to live. I meet so many families around the world who want to live in the United States and have the system we have. Warren Buffett, our co-trustee, my husband, Bill, they are so clear that, you know, they could not have started those - the companies they have in Malawi or in Senegal or in Niger. We benefit from the structure we have in the United States, but we don't have it all right. And...[read on]