Against Against Billionaire Philanthropy

Published: Aug. 6, 2019, 5:25 p.m.

[Conflict of interest notice: I\u2019ve volunteered for both private and public charities, but more often private. I received a small amount of money for work done for a private charity ten years ago. Some of the private charities have been partially funded by billionaires.]

From Vox:\xa0The Case Against Billionaire Philanthropy. It joins\xa0The Guardian,\xa0Truthout,\xa0Dissent Magazine,\xa0CityLab, and a host of other people and organizations arguing that rich people giving to charity is now a big problem.

I\u2019m against this. I understand concern about the growing power of the very rich. But I worry the movement against billionaire charity is on track to damage charity a whole lot more than it damages billionaires. Eleven points:

1. Is criticizing billionaire philanthropy a good way to protest billionaires having too much power in society?

Which got more criticism? Mark Zuckerberg giving $100 million to help low-income students? Or Mark Zuckerberg buying a $59 million dollar mansion in Lake Tahoe? Obviously it\u2019s the low-income students. I\u2019ve heard people criticizing Zuckerberg\u2019s donation constantly for years, and I didn\u2019t even know he\xa0had\xa0a $59 million Lake Tahoe mansion until I googled \u201cthings mark zuckerberg has spent ridiculous amounts of money on\u201d in the process of writing this paragraph.

Which got more negative press? Jeff Bezos donating $2 billion for preschools for underprivileged children? Or Jeff Bezos spending $2 billion on whatever is going to come up when I Google \u201cthings jeff bezos has spent ridiculous amounts of money on?\u201d.