Once enlightened about food, just a few of them can change the world.
Imagine what could happen if these two generous people “caught the vision” relative to what must be done.
A few months ago, I began writing comments on Bill Gates own blog platform, GatesNotes.com. Here is the one that I posted under his article about his friend and fellow billionaire and philanthropist, Warren Buffett.
Dear Mr. Gates. Like you, I have always admired the amazing Mr. Buffett. While leading a relatively modest life in Omaha, he amassed one of the greatest fortunes in the world. And he’s done it without the yachts, planes, palatial homes and all the other worldly indulgences that most billionaires have trouble resisting.
He’s also signed the “giving pledge” and is doing his best to give back to a host of worthy causes. But, as his son Peter said in a NY Times Op-Ed last summer, while philanthropy is a wonderful thing, as currently practiced by most billionaires, it’s not addressing the systemic problems that are causing most of the suffering.
But the world has bigger problems than billions of suffering people. As you know from Stephen Emmott’s book TEN BILLION, our system of “maximum consumption in a finite world” has got us on a track to disaster—the end of our civilization as we know it well before the end of this century. We have four big areas to address to bring us back into living in harmony with nature: overpopulation, over-consumption, use of fossil fuels and changing what we eat.
He’s bullish on America, but what about the survival of our civilization?
The first three will take decades if not centuries to address; but fortunately, one of them can be achieved relatively quickly—I am talking about changing what we eat, because that determines how most of the land on this planet is used. And by addressing the global feeding model first, maybe we can buy enough time to address the other three.
Unfortunately, no government, country or institution can get that done, but a group of caring billionaires working together can—by simply taking the message of truth directly to the consumer. You and Warren Buffett can make this happen. I explain it in more detail in my 3-21-14 letter to you and Melinda—provided here for your convenience.
Do you know someone who knows Bill and Melinda? If so, maybe you could help get this blog in their hands. If not them, please forward this to your ten wealthiest friends. Maybe they will “catch the vision” and send it along to their ten wealthiest. After a few more iterations, we might be able to get the serious attention of at least one billionaire and one powerful and courageous leader.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
-—Margaret Mead
- 5-27-14 Just ONE powerful leader and a few caring billionaires
- 11-7-13 Getting philanthropy RIGHT requires SYSTEMIC fixes (features quotes from Peter Buffett and a link to his NY Times article)
- 1-21-12 Where is Warren Buffett? In the 5% or the 95%?
- 5-26-14 New York Times article outlining the Gates’ difficulty in finding enough worthy causes for donating their wealth.
- My 3-21-14 letter to Bill and Melinda Gates.
The following five books and one DVD can be purchased on Amazon for a grand total of less than $60—and will enable you to understand the overwhelming challenges we face—along with the single most-powerful solution of all.
Six-Pack from Hicks—for health, hope & harmony on planet Earth
- Healthy Eating, Healthy World, The “big picture” about food (our book)
- A life changer for millions, including James Cameron. Forks Over Knives DVD
- An essential scientific resource: The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell; the primary book that influenced Bill Clinton to adopt a whole food, plant-based diet.
- What have we done to our planet? Full Planet, Empty Plates by Lester Brown
- A horrifying wake-up call for leaders. TEN BILLION by Dr. Stephen Emmott
- Food choices are the primary cause of our environmental problems, yet our world leaders, scientists & experts are Comfortably Unaware, by Richard Oppenlander.
Why should we be eating mostly plants? The “big picture” in 4 minutes.
Want to find out how healthy your family is eating? Take our free 4Leaf Survey. It takes 2 or 3 minutes and you can score it yourself. After taking the survey, please give me your feedback as it will be helpful in the development of our future 4Leaf app for smartphones. Send feedback to jmorrishicks@me.com
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J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.
To order more of my favorite books—visit our online BookStore now For help in your own quest to take charge of your health, visit our 4Leaf page and also enjoy some great recipes from Lisa’s 4Leaf Kitchen. Got a question? Let me hear from you at jmorrishicks@me.com. Or give me a call on my cell at 917-399-9700.
—J. Morris Hicks, board member since 2012; click banner for more info:
J. Morris Hicks, engineer. writer. big picture guy. 
Whatever you believe and can conceive, you will achieve. Keep at it!!!
Jim,
Keep at it! Who knows? Someone might come a-callin’!
Colin
Keep up this great work!
People can also send messages through the GatesFoundation.org site: info@gatesfoundation.org
Hopefully, the more that we all do this (responsibly, respectfully), the more of a chance the world will have to thrive healthfully.
=)
Dear Mr. Hicks,
Are you aware that Mr. Gates invested millions of dollars into the company beyond meat? He feels the future is in meat alternatives, hence I believe he may see the big picture of the effect of meat on both health and the evnironment. The other person involved in this is the founder and CEO of Twitter.
Hi Debbie, Thanks for your comment. Yes, I am aware of Mr. Gates financial support of both Beyond Meat AND Hampton Creek. And I appreciate that support, but that investment will do almost nothing to “move the needle” regarding climate change or soil erosion in any kind of meaningful way for ten years or more. And we simply don’t have that much time.
As for Biz Stone, I am also aware that he is on the Beyond Meat board of directors and I copied him on a February 12 letter to CEO Ethan Brown. I didn’t receive a response from either of them. On April 2, I hand-delivered two letters to Biz Stone in Washington, DC, and gave him a personalized copy of my book. We spoke briefly after his book-promo speech and I haven’t heard from him since.
Granted, these billionaires are at least supporting alternatives to meat, but there are NO billionaires anywhere that have made “urgently changing what we eat” their #1 priority. And that’s the only way (in my opinion) that we’re going to prevent the collapse of our civilization. Bill and Melinda support a plethora of good causes, but they’re missing the boat when it comes to urgently addressing the most serious problem in the history of humanity. Be well, Jim Hicks
I admire your vision, Morris. I totally agree with you on your comments re the work/causes that Bill and Melinda Gates do/ support. Thank you.
wow thank you, this is what I wanted to do. Get in touch with mr. Warren Buffett! You are brilliant. thank you so much for doing this. You are on the right track!
In admiration,
greetings from
Mw. Barendsen
https://www.facebook.com/LoveDelightbook?ref=hl