Science & Technology

How to Solve the World’s Biggest Problems | Natalie Cargill | TED

Sometimes the world’s biggest issues can seem so intractable that meaningful change feels impossible. But what if the answer has been right in front of us all along? What if the answer is actually throwing money at the problems? In this thought-provoking talk, philanthropic advisor Natalie Cargill shares what might happen if we came together…

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Sometimes the world’s biggest issues can seem so intractable that meaningful change feels impossible. But what if the answer has been right in front of us all along? What if the answer is actually throwing money at the problems? In this thought-provoking talk, philanthropic advisor Natalie Cargill shares what might happen if we came together to spend 3.5 trillion dollars on fixing the world. And, yes, she also has a plan for where to get the money from. (Followed by a Q&A with Anna Verghese, executive director of The Audacious Project.)

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71 Comments

  1. Eddie Palmer

    September 18, 2023 at 4:29 pm

    The biggest problem is the greed at the top. 😮

    • David Holaday

      September 18, 2023 at 4:33 pm

      So you need to understand those people and tackle and address those specific problems.

  2. Cristian Famigliuolo

    September 18, 2023 at 4:33 pm

    It is not philanthropy that will save the world, it is the correctly managed voluntary distribution of alms that restarts the velocity of money. 😂

  3. Thomas Pitagora

    September 18, 2023 at 4:41 pm

    This sounds like thinktanks’ propaganda. Why should we rely on “philanthropic donations” when we have something called “taxes” that actually is designed to do the same. Just talk about using taxes to reduce world inequality instead of legitimizing “philanthropy” as a silver-bullet solution to the world’s problems. Wealth tax with a global common rate is the solution, not this fake “philanthropic” bulls***

  4. Mark Barsingerhorn

    September 18, 2023 at 4:49 pm

    Summarised: what if we give 10% off all wealth to me and let me play as a philanthropist!

    • Temporal Shade

      September 18, 2023 at 9:29 pm

      if you ask me, she did a bloody good job with that hypothetical money. here’s to hoping this happens!

  5. JOHNNY K

    September 18, 2023 at 4:59 pm

    There’s NO amount of MONEY that can “solve” the problems created by MONEY.

    • Stuart Bogle

      September 18, 2023 at 5:26 pm

      Over all that is correct. But the real problem isn’t about money, but rather what gives money value. Currently that is the fact that the value of the global reserve currency (the US dollar) is determined by the worlds demand for OPEC oil. So as long as the world needs oil then the world need US dollars.

    • dirtydrew69

      September 18, 2023 at 7:17 pm

      No, but you can pay pretty women to convince people it can.

  6. ThePawcios

    September 18, 2023 at 4:59 pm

    Wealth redistribution… I have seen it somwhere and how it works… Soviet Union? Money do not solve such problems… look at Africa and how many bilions is pumped there 😛

  7. Fruit of the UNIVERSE

    September 18, 2023 at 5:02 pm

    Funding is an issue because there is an idea about types of inconsiderate people that exist ‘mechanically’ beyond help. Some speculate it’s hereditary and therefore all resource is controlled forcefully, as to not feed and multiply them.

    Latest studies show that we’re built to be sensitive to social dynamics,the good and the bad. This leads to experiences being the culprit to why some are activated in some and not in others. Some cultures are brutalized by nature and thus only type can exist, just as an example.

    In other words, many are within saving. We just have to relax on some of our view points that were incomplete to begin with, and in modern days, outdated. A little or a lot. To each his own… level of understanding.

    Anyway, here is another idea that might help:

    1) 3d printed “plastic inject moulding plates

    2) new “unnatural resource” in form of plastic trash.

    3) fund plastic-fisherman

  8. TheMrmoc7 James

    September 18, 2023 at 5:03 pm

    10% is a lot, I can’t afford it with my student loans and what not, sorry. Maybe try limiting this to the top 1% in U.S.A, China, India, Japan, and Korea.

  9. Thor

    September 18, 2023 at 5:06 pm

    How to Solve the World’s Biggest Problems: Destroy Capitalism

  10. Spirit of wind

    September 18, 2023 at 5:11 pm

    Just wondering if she’s a freemason and a puppet for establishment elites masons don’t matter what political party why there all the same but give you a illusions there all different read research read…..the truth is stranger than fiction it’s obvious and just plain common sense and real street smart and true spirit with discernment

  11. mrgelvis

    September 18, 2023 at 5:15 pm

    God bless Donald Trump for his tremendous donations to these organizations!! Oh wait, that money is for his lawyers.

  12. Boris Bormaglioson

    September 18, 2023 at 5:21 pm

    I bet the top 1% of global income earners would be vehemently opposed to taking any of their income at all. Human nature will always put self interest above the interests of others.

    • MotorheadOne

      September 18, 2023 at 6:03 pm

      Bolshevik revolution 2.0 would cure that issue.

    • Evermore Curious

      September 18, 2023 at 6:40 pm

      I’d just like them to be a mentor or accountability partner.

  13. MotorheadOne

    September 18, 2023 at 6:03 pm

    Just move decimal point to the left several places and raise minimum wage to match cost of living. Tax all billionaires until they only have 2 billion a world limit on greed .
    Have a Bolshevik revolution 2.0

  14. Pol Robert Compte

    September 18, 2023 at 6:19 pm

    how can we all agree on which are the real problems and the top priorities?

  15. rika

    September 18, 2023 at 7:00 pm

    UBI works. The rich just doesn’t want you to know about it.

  16. SunRaii

    September 18, 2023 at 7:01 pm

    Yes, it can. Next

  17. Bkooda

    September 18, 2023 at 7:11 pm

    Awful take

  18. V CR

    September 18, 2023 at 7:17 pm

    The world already has this amt of money to fix all the problems, people are just hoarding it and want to keep making more money off of everyone’s else

  19. Alfred Lee

    September 18, 2023 at 7:30 pm

    I used to be a believer in philanthropy but over time i realised that expecting billionaires to “solve” things means giving them a reason to exist (when they currently have no reason to exist)

    We need to find ways to hold governments accountable to prevent billionaires from evading tax and then funnel that money into solving our problems.

    We should do that because governments are beholden to their voters. Relying on billionaires puts us at the whimsical mercies of their supposed benevolence.

    • Person

      September 18, 2023 at 8:22 pm

      Yay a smart person

  20. Patrick Goldsmith

    September 18, 2023 at 8:08 pm

    The human population of our planet has doubled in the past 50 years. THAT is the root of the problem. Collectively we act like a cancer on our host. We are the problem itself. All these ideas are good. Can it be done?

  21. Rebecca

    September 18, 2023 at 8:23 pm

    Beautiful ❤🙏🙏🙏

  22. David Boson

    September 18, 2023 at 8:34 pm

    Im guessing that Tax payers will be expected fork out the money, as tax payers are the cash cows that keep on giving – to billionaires and multinational conglomerates.

  23. Tìm Kiếm Đầu Tư

    September 18, 2023 at 8:36 pm

    Your content is very interesting. Thank you!❤

  24. Ryan S

    September 18, 2023 at 8:36 pm

    The US government steals trillions and ruins the world! So i say no.

  25. epayne6

    September 18, 2023 at 9:01 pm

    I hate having to 💩 all over this beautiful woman’s ideas, but The 1% are/became The 1% by hoarding their wealth. They will not just give up any part of it for any reason.

  26. Ioana Alexandra

    September 18, 2023 at 9:38 pm

    If money can save the world we’ve forgotten that we gave money their power and so the power is within us all along 💞

  27. Tride

    September 18, 2023 at 10:00 pm

    Great talk, but how would then rich, powerful and evil people like Bill Gates experiment with GMO and vaccines like he did in Africa with polio?
    How would rich help the world if they can’t tell poor what poor people actually need?
    Charities are not solving the problems, they are mostly used as a marketing tool or to give corporations some social image.

  28. Christian Rennie

    September 18, 2023 at 10:20 pm

    Solving the world’s problems begins with citizenry. The govt can’t make the people do what is needed to build constructive habits and stop wanting to commit crimes. It takes good parenting and a community of building good habits. Only then can correct decision making be made when the adults understand a common goal. That is why the US was successful in the past (though troubled) the general population (and immigrants) bought into the “American Dream” that is how we got nuclear families. 9-5 jobs (careers that paid for necessities), and leaders that could articulate themselves and say what they meant pretty plainly. It was a time when most people in the US had the same goal, though our leaders had different ideologies on how to get there. But now our leaders, citizens, and parents all have such a different idea about what is important that no one can agree on anything and we spend more time in conflict with each other instead of a common goal. People only see the differences instead of commonalities. We argue about what is and forget we trying to build a positive what will be… what a bummer.

    • In10c1Ty

      September 20, 2023 at 5:14 am

      I can tell you this, if the whole population was able to survive. Eat, have the ability to have entertainment, and a place to live, crime would drop substantially.

  29. agaragar21

    September 18, 2023 at 11:10 pm

    How you solve the worlds Problems is yo prevent Gestational Brain DAMAGE….Better Executive functions means people being able to follow goal directed behaviour over time …less animalistic, less territorial , etc Thinking in a future directed manner !

    No raping, no more war, no more murder, no homelessness, no callous actions, and better dental health

    • ghost mantagshome

      September 19, 2023 at 2:25 pm

      EMPTY BOT ACCOUNT

  30. G S

    September 18, 2023 at 11:27 pm

    This might be the most attractive woman I’ve ever seen and at least 60% of that attraction is from her words 😍😍😍

    • ghost mantagshome

      September 19, 2023 at 2:24 pm

      @shrunkenskull= THANK YOU EMPTY BOT ACCOUNT

  31. IvanAndreevich

    September 19, 2023 at 1:55 am

    So I guess you missed the whole part where PPE didn’t work, eh? Seriously? Cochrane.

  32. Cities for the Future 2030

    September 19, 2023 at 4:24 am

    We know what the problems & solutions are, and how to implement them – the tech is available & can be deployed relatively easily. Of course there are complications & difficulties, and any type of social / tech transition is “painful”.

    The main obstacle to a just & equitable transition is social – our democracy, economy, political & justice systems have been hijacked by a small elite – 30 % of society are sociopaths whose whole identity is based on the status quo (the fact that there are poor people suffering makes them feel superior & entitled), 30 % don’t get it or don’t care, 30% are just trying to survive or are too young or old to help). Only a small minority of people care, are running around trying to save what remains, clean up the mess, convince “Judas” politicians to do the right thing for everybody whilst fighting deliberate disinformation & propaganda.

    Isn’t it amazing how society trusts “science” when it comes to money & tech, but not the enviro or climate change? Although I’m beginning to understand all the “denialism” is actually misdirection.

    What’s ACTUALLY going to solve our various crises is social. We have to rediscover what’s REALLY important and commit ourselves to learning to live in harmony with nature, share resources equitably (I don’t mean socialism) and work towards a more sustainable, equitable & inclusive society. In a world based on individualism (narcissism in my opinion), a rediscovery of “community” is much needed. Humanity is at a crossroads and requires most of us to at least care about the future of the planet and the people & creatures that call it home.

  33. trader2137

    September 19, 2023 at 4:30 am

    you can use that 3.5 trillion to reduce human population in africa, and problem will be solved

  34. LBenn302

    September 19, 2023 at 4:36 am

    Money won’t save it. We need a miracle. It’s the people within it that are the problem. Especially the leadership

    • Honey Do You

      September 19, 2023 at 2:00 pm

      The answer you’re looking for is communism, but the United States has made sure we fear it too much to do our own research

  35. Ecoideaz Ventures

    September 19, 2023 at 5:49 am

    Please educate me – How do we spend $2 billion to reduce the nuclear risk? I watched her speech once again to understand but in vain. can anybody explain?

  36. Shloopp

    September 19, 2023 at 5:56 am

    we should probably not rely on the kindness of billionaires to save us. this is an awful talk and its just capitalist propaganda. do yourselves a favor and really engage with socialist literature. americans need to wake from their day dreams and stop pretending the rest of the world and history itself does not exist.

  37. Alejandra Alvarado

    September 19, 2023 at 5:57 am

    Wow, I knew I was not even close to that 1%… didn’t realize I was this far

    • Honey Do You

      September 19, 2023 at 2:02 pm

      Every person in the working class is baby steps away from homelessness and cannot fathom the wealth gap

  38. jason donnelly

    September 19, 2023 at 7:39 am

    The 1% love “philanthropy” cause it forgets “taxes on the rich”. U know what’s free? Voting. Voting to raise taxes on the each countries own 1%.

  39. Riccardo Aquilanti

    September 19, 2023 at 8:43 am

    I mean Gandhi said it first, the greed of the rich is the real obstacle.

    • Honey Do You

      September 19, 2023 at 2:00 pm

      The Earth isn’t dying, it’s being killed at the hands of a few, and those people have names and addresses

  40. Modern Gamerz Show

    September 19, 2023 at 10:41 am

    I need to know more Natalie, could give me a private lesson on this?? 😉😋

  41. ronkirk50

    September 19, 2023 at 11:28 am

    I worked as an engineer on a U.S. flagged bulk ship that sailed under government charter to carry food aid, mostly wheat purchased by non-profits, to countries facing famine due to war or crop failure due to drought or social unrest. We could end hunger across the world if we just had the political will. It has been estimated that less than 1% of the GDP of the 20 riches countries could accomplish all the millennium development goals to eliminate extreme poverty globally.

  42. Henriette Hamer

    September 19, 2023 at 12:19 pm

    When the philanthropist would really pay their taxes, the governments should be able to pay for the stuff society needs.

  43. ghost mantagshome

    September 19, 2023 at 2:22 pm

    90% of these hate billionaires power to the people! comments on YouTube are empty bot accounts.

  44. Willful Mystic

    September 19, 2023 at 3:12 pm

    I can only imagine the administrative costs.

  45. Obz1K 4ever

    September 19, 2023 at 5:47 pm

    It’s not that easy. (1) You can’t just throw money at things. You’re assuming the talent is there if the money is there. Suddenly there are more climate scientists and disease researchers just because there’s more money? Doesn’t work that way. Takes years to train people and a large segment of any population will want to be singers, artists, lawyers, bankers, etc. instead of scientists. (2) Feeding people for a year doesn’t solve underlying societal (corrupt ruling class/bad government/poor infrastructure/remote locations/harsh desert environment) problems. Plus you can throw money at people and feed them for a while, but if you throw enough money the local government will step in to take their cut (their cut is ~90+%). Unfortunate but that’s life.

  46. zayayane

    September 19, 2023 at 7:51 pm

    ah yes, a literal who solves the world’s problems, thanks ted
    lmao

  47. Pushpraj singh Chundawat

    September 19, 2023 at 10:48 pm

    I am. Not agree with you 🫠

  48. Miroslav Houdek

    September 20, 2023 at 8:14 am

    I would love if someone idealistic (such as this nice lady) would explain to me how they imagine the 1 percenters to pay up.

    Imagine I have a 1 trillion dollar company. I own 51 percent of it, so that makes me pretty rich – about 510 billions net worth. Not someone asks me to give away 2 percent of my net worth for good things. And I’m personally willing.

    Now that means, that I have to sell a lot of stock (because my 100 million USD villa or my 5 million USD ferrari won’t even make a dent in this). So I’m no longer in control of the company. That’s a big ask, tbh. And also, if every 1 percenter is selling off their stock – who is buying the stock? Who has those trillions of cash that can be readily spent on this operation?

    This would be such a clusterfuck, I imagine. But I’m open to explanations, honestly.

    • bartosz 7170

      September 21, 2023 at 4:34 pm

      This

  49. Dan-The-Man

    September 20, 2023 at 9:35 am

    For this to work, the Top 1% needs to hace a moral conscience, which they dont. And they do the bare minimum mandated by law. I dont see them giving up that cash with nothing in return, sadly…

  50. ohho

    September 23, 2023 at 2:15 am

    Wasn’t tax created with such a dream in mind? How does that turn out.

  51. Invox

    September 24, 2023 at 10:51 am

    Throw money at the (or any) problem… Very american.

  52. Invox

    September 24, 2023 at 10:56 am

    If money could fix the world, with the amount of it being thrown around right NOW… It would already been fixed.

  53. Invox

    September 24, 2023 at 11:05 am

    If you want the top 1% to give out 10%, there’s already a mechanism for that… It’s called taxes.

  54. Rob King

    September 24, 2023 at 3:50 pm

    With such market dynamics, which allows such disproportional earnings and global instability isn’t where the solution is at. Don’t ever dare asking anything from the top greediest/egotistical people alive to help the so-called “poor” people/countries.

    Real change comes from true power, the “we”, common people, you reading this and not from illusory digital numbers from fraudulent banking systems and old-fashioned structures we’ve been living under/with for over a hundred years now.

    If I had all the “wealth”, money and power and tomorrow I decided to donate it to solve the world’s issues, people would think I’m a saint, they’d cherish as a Messiah.
    Instead, I’d rather live in a world where social inequality and the created “poverty”, which is but a sub product of the market as a whole, doesn’t even need to exist and all are seem as equal. No matter if I invent the tele-transporter, I DONT WANT MILLIONS because I created it, it’s for the benefit of all, don’t shower me with all this boots licking and money.

    As for your suggestion on how this donation could possibly solve the world’s crisis, it just won’t, again, please start studying from the beginning with how the markets dynamics work, how money is invented and how everything is tied to debt, then, come back to TED, you’d be surprised on how your updated lecture will change 360°.

    There’s nothing worse than money in this world, I mean, it’s clear, look around.

  55. Pq

    September 25, 2023 at 9:13 am

    I’d rather they pay their taxes.

  56. Malik Waqas

    September 25, 2023 at 10:32 am

    Create a movement for this. I will join you in it.

  57. 卵卵

    September 25, 2023 at 9:12 pm

    1:42

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