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Philanthropy Helps You Stand on Your Own Two Knees
As someone who has spent many years seeking/securing grants from foundations, and almost 12 years working as a senior program officer at a large community and large private foundation, I believe my "headline," while humorous, sums up my understanding of philanthropy and one of the major themes of Winners Take All. I share another concern well described by Anand, namely, the extremely serious abdication of public responsibility for basic human needs. In large part, this is because the very rich, the gatekeepers they employ, and their political allies have intentionally worked to limit the viability of our public sector since the Reagan presidency. In fact, as Anand also notes, this has been done in various ways since the early part of the 20th century when the first large foundations were created by Rockefeller and Carnegie. I believe Anand would agree with my view that the rich use philanthropy and the entire nonprofit sector as a diversion from a strong public sector which, in these times, would be at least some form of American social democracy. If I could afford it, I would buy copies of Winners Take All for anyone who wants to understand the role of charity and philanthropy in maintaining existing power relations by limiting the power and effectiveness of a viable, democratic public sector. We must address the dominance of unaccountable, self-serving elites with democratic, public alternatives as Anand so brilliantly, courageously, and elegantly elucidates in Winners Take All.
September 2018 · Books · verified purchase