It is a funny old world! This week the new-look Hotel Formentor (now the Four Seasons Resort Mallorca) announced that they were looking for staff. The Canada-based Four Season Group is owned by Microsoft founder, Bill Gates. As the story was for our website (www.majorcadailybulletin.com) and snappy headlines are the order of the day, my effort was “Do you want to work for Bill Gates in Mallorca?”
Now, I thought that this would get a positive reaction because after all Bill Gates is one of the most successful businesspeople in the world who has effectively changed our lives with his computer programs and software. The story was published on our website and linked to Facebook and Twitter. I was amazed at some of the comments on Facebook. Of the 30 or 40 opinions no-one wanted to work for Bill Gates.
One even suggested that he was the ugly face of capitalism. What I found even more amazing is that the majority of the people who were giving negative comments were probably using his software to express their views! Being a “newspaper person” I agree very much with free speech but it did make me wonder about our society.
Now, you can’t come to an overall conclusion based on a few dozen Facebook comments and if you have the anti-Bill Gates brigade out in force, you are hardly likely to rise to his defence, but surely everyone must admit, whatever their politics, that Bill Gates is an outstanding business person who should be admired. He has also used his vast fortune, which he has accumulated thanks to his ideas and hard work, to help many people across the globe. Also, we all need his software and it has changed our lives.
I certainly admire Bill Gates and Richard Branson and even Elon Musk. Through their know-how, imagination and vision they have come up with ideas, which have made them rich by giving us products and services that we want to buy. This was once called The American Dream and they made films about it. It helped inspire part of a generation and gave them ambition and drive, one of the very cornerstones of the western democracies especially in the days of the Soviet bloc.
My advice? Don´t criticise those who have made money legally with their hard work, ideas and inspiration, try to emulate them because they have made a difference.