The twenty-first century poses a number of new societal challenges, which may contradict some of the resolutions the public has agreed on in the past. Thus, as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet receive euphoric praise for starting foundations and giving away billions of dollars, some people decide to take a critical look at billionaire philanthropy and its outcomes.
This is the case of Rob Reich, a political philosopher who teaches at Stanford and seems to be eager to demonstrate how exactly massive donations can undermine democratic systems and institutions. Although the author of “Just giving: Why philanthropy is failing democracy and how it can do better” argues that mega-donors can become a threat to democratic welfare, he offers solutions the government can implement as well. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the phenomenon of billionaire philanthropy in the context of the democratic process and ethical considerations.
What Reich attempts and manages to do exceptionally well is to strip the veil of individuality off big philanthropy. On the one hand, personal decisions to donate money ordinary individuals make are indeed matters of individual concern. On the other hand, charitable giving, which amounts to millions and even billions, must be regarded for what it is – an exercise of influence (Reich, 2018). After all, even if a donor might not have any ulterior motives or manipulation tactics up their sleeve, they still redirect their massive private assets to achieve a certain public impact (Matthews, 2018). The book masterfully explains why simply trusting and being grateful to donors is dangerous to the welfare of society and the security of democracy.
Although Reich’s opening argument has no fundamental flaws, one potential critique would be his dismissal of nations beyond the U.S. The thesis Reich (2018) puts at the core of his work is that the state should have a skeptical attitude toward “the preference of people to give money away for some prosocial or public purpose” (p. 195). However, the book mostly references the policies of the United States, which makes it harder to apply the author’s analysis accurately to other liberal democratic societies.
Ultimately, “Just giving” is a book that examines the possible justifications for philanthropy and charitable state incentives most foundations receive, in particular. For instance, the author attempts to analyze “possible rationales for state engagement with private giving, including the creation of more equality, the efficiency of resource distribution, and contribution to the pluralism of thought and action” (Pearson, 2019, para. 4).
In regards to philanthropy’s apparent redistributive purpose, Reich (2018) objects and cites data on tax breaks to show that charitable donations do not, in fact, favor those in need. Instead, only one-third of charity targets low-income communities. Another one-third is directed at covering religious organization’s costs (Charity Navigator, 2018). Therefore, the book demonstrates the assumptions that charity leads to wealth redistribution and equality are rather flawed, which is a plausible argument indeed.
What makes Reich’s text stand out from other critiques of big philanthropy is the fact that the author tries to provide a practical rationale for the existence of private charity foundations in a modern liberal democratic society. Firstly, giving away one’s assets is an exercise of individual liberty, which is the foundation of a democratic state. Secondly, there is some evidence suggesting that “philanthropy produces social goods more efficiently than the state could alone” and “contributes to a more vigorously pluralistic society” (Pearson, 2019, para. 7). However, none of these arguments justify the fact that liberal governments do not only allow private donations but subsidize them.
While Reich’s theoretical analysis is strong and deserves much praise, his practical solutions for policies are rather fragile. For example, in the main body of the book, the author attempts to offer his own justification for the existence and subsidization of charitable organizations. Reich (2018) considers increasingly complex and unpredictable challenges the world faces nowadays, which require long-term solutions. As the current liberal democratic institutions are primarily concerned with immediate issues, private donations can become an efficient response to the “presentism” of the government and its half-hearted efforts to battle such problems as climate change.
Thus, the book argues that the mega-donors can receive tax incentives only if the state oversees the process and ensures that the money will go “to fund higher risk social policy experiments and identify potential social problems” (Reich, 2018, p. 165). The author contradicts himself as a chapter earlier he criticizes donations to medical and educational organizations, which arguably produce the innovation and long-term societal changes he focuses on in his justification.
In conclusion, it is evident that Rob Reich does a great job at examining the issues surrounding private donations and billionaire philanthropy. The author manages to offer a fresh perspective on the phenomenon of mega-donors by stripping away individual agendas and diving deeper into the potential impact of charitable organizations on the very existence of democratic institutions. Although “Just giving” is full of well-researched theoretical arguments, some of the solutions the author offers are fundamentally flawed.
References
Charity Navigator. (2018). Giving statistics.
Matthews, D. (2018). The case against billionaire philanthropy. Vox. Web.
Pearson, H. (2019). Book review: Just giving: Why philanthropy is failing democracy and how it can do better. The Philanthropist Journal.
Reich, R. (2018). Just giving: Why philanthropy is failing democracy and how it can do better. Princeton University Press.