Discussion for article #238945
Note to reporter: Warren Buffet was not the founder of Berkshire Hathaway, which has origins in the 19th Century.
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Money well spent. Thank you, Buffett Foundation.
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Maybe Buffet is really a vampire?
For Warren, it’s economic. He thinks that unless women can control their
fertility—and that it’s basically their right to control their
fertility—that you are sort of wasting more than half of the brainpower
in the United States," she said, according to Bloomberg.
I agree that we should have control of our fertility, but what exactly does “wasting more than half the brainpower in the United States” mean? It sounds like a complete non-sequitur.
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I think he should consider funding an ICED (IntraCranial Empathy Device) to implant into several of his fellow billionaires. And Republicans, of course.
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If you have a few minutes, read the Bloomberg article. Good background.
Since women comprise slightly more than 50 percent of the US population, it probably means letting women control their reproduction would enable them to pursue careers and other opportunities.
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“I’ve got Rhythm
I’ve got BirthControlPills
I’ve got an IUD
Who could ask for anything more…?”
Thank you, Buffetts…
Well, yes. But not all women become pregnant; I don’t imagine that they’re suggesting that women never become pregnant; and women who do become pregnant only do so for some period of their lives, and most do not abandon all other activities for the rest of their lives to raise children. So saying that we’re ¨sort of wasting more than half of the brainpower in the United States" by not having better birth control strikes me as really bad math, as much as I agree with the general principle.
But your argument would minimize the disruptions and lost opportunity resulting from an unplanned pregnancy.
An interesting report, though there is another part of the Foundation’s interest in women’s health that was reported earlier, and seems to have gone under the radar. They underwrote a program to provide free birth control to young women with financial need in Colorado. Birth rates fell dramatically, but the program did not receive public funding from Colorado, so might be ending soon.
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Huh? My argument is to try to have a modicum of accuracy when discussing numbers; I don’t want to minimize anything. The spokesperson could have easily underscored the huge economic toll of unplanned pregnancies without resorting to the hyperbole of “wasting more than half the brainpower in the United States”.
Bravo for funding and support women’s right to control their fertility, but I would not call being a mother, or a parent in general, “wasting brain power.” That’s more than a little insulting.
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Yes, but being a parent is not “wasting brain power.” There’s a better way to word that.
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You just gotta love this guy.
From an capitalist economic standpoint, it’s a no-brainer. It’s OK to pay women less for equitable work in the marketplace (this is fact, not personal preference). As more women participate in the workforce, you have a higher pool of lower-wage workers. Striving for income equity hasn’t really raised the wages of women, but lowered the wages of comparable jobs for men… anyone notice issues with wage stagnation in recent decades? So for Warren Buffet, sure, empowering women makes complete sense for continuing to hold down wages until women’s participation in the job market reaches a saturation point and wages become an issue across the board.
On the other hand, I think it’s wonderful he’s promoting research into improved contraceptive methods. Unfortunately, even with the foundation’s largess, it’s a drop in the bucket as far as research goes compared to what we should be (are?) funding through the NIH.
I agree, and with your earlier statement that the comment makes more sense in a general way.
More better billionaires like Buffett.
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I agree that we should have control of our
fertility, but what exactly does “wasting more than half the brainpower
in the United States” mean? It sounds like a complete non-sequitur.
Because… women think with their vaginas and if it’s busy they can’t think. I read that on the Internet.