Bill Gates: The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity.

I’m late in blogging abouit this item but I feel it’s important enough to bring up. Bill Gates gave the 2007 Harvard Commencement speech and the topic of his speech helping solve the issue of inequality around the world. He mentioned there has been no better than for people to help others given the amount of information and connective-ness brought by the Internet.

I tend to agree with him. We can all do more to help those in need, especially people around the world that do not have a voice or do not have the power to improve the situations around then. What we do can vary in degree of commitment and level of impact. But what’s important is that we realize we can all do something to help make this world a better place. It can start out as something small. Just helping a friend, helping a neighbor, or just donating $20 to a foundation you champion.

I have been working on One Foundation for the past several months and I’m amazing by the amount of networking and progress that I can do remotely even while our office is in Beijing. I come across a lot of people with good hearts. It’s good to see that people care. I want to see this feeling spread around the world and especially more among Asians and Asian youth.

Hong Kong is one of the most philanthropic cities in the world per capita. It would be great if we followed their model of care and giving? Let’s all work together in both business and philanthropy. The two are not mutually exclusive.

A good book about this subject is How to Change the World. You can find the full text of Bill Gates' commencement address at gatesfoundation.org.