In Defense of Philanthrocapitalism
When Mark Zuckerberg, the C.E.O. of Facebook, announced that he would be donating ninety-nine per cent of his Facebook stock to a new nonprofit organization, he got his share of positive headlines.
But the move was also dismissed as a tax-avoidance scheme, a public-relations gambit, a way to boost Facebook’s profits under the guise of doing good, and the latest expression of the “white savior industrial complex.” The economist Thomas Piketty, the author of “Capital,” said simply that the donation “looks like a big joke.”
Yet philanthropic investment in global projects continues to increase. Anne Petersen, the president of the Global Philanthropy Alliance, told :
“American philanthropy used to be all about giving locally. But there’s been a dramatic trend toward international giving, and that’s only going to continue.” It’s reasonable to lament the fact that a small number of billionaires have so much power over which problems get dealt with and which do not. But they have that power precisely because they are spending so much of their money to solve global problems. We, as a country, are not.”
Read the full article on “The New Yorker” website
Learn more about Philanthrocapitalism
Related Articles
Order of Malta in Hungary scaling up its assistance work to help Syrian population
12/27/2018. After nearly 8 years of war in Syria, the Order of Malta is still present in the region helping the local population with medical and humanitarian activities.
UN aid chief urges global action as starvation, famine loom for 20 million across four countries
03/10/2017. We are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the UN,” UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.
Better serving people in need through cooperation with the World Economic Forum
01/19/2016. The ICRC and the WEF focus on collaboration and dialogue between sectors and operate both from Geneva, with a global perspective.
