Robert Reich
Charity is important, and I hope you will be generous today. But what if charity by the ultra-rich is just a cover for their greed? Shouldn’t we be concerned about how they accumulate their fortunes — and the social ills they may exacerbate along the way? https://robertreich.substack.com/p/a-grotesque-distortion-of-philanthropy#details
A grotesque distortion of philanthropy

Listen now (4 min) | The gonzo ethics of seeking to make gobs of money so you can give it away

Robert Reich
Nov 29, 2022 at 5:59pmWeb
Show threadThe Skeptic's Book of ListsNov 29, 2022

@rbreich

When I see McDonald's asking us to donate to, say, the Ronald McDonald House or other major corporations that collect money on our behalf and then match, I think "why do they need /our/ half? Can't they just donate the full amount? Why do we have to pay for their marketing?"

What is the "right" way to think about these sorts of major corporation charity promotions? Are we just funding their PR when they could just write a check for $2 million instead of $1 million plus the $1 million people donated?

Show threadWeAre RosieNov 29, 2022
@rbreich Foundations are just ways to funnel money back to the wealthy.
Show threadkirkiscoolNov 29, 2022
@rbreich not only that but a lot of the things the wealthy get celebrated for donating to are things that our govt. should be providing already. It's almost as if the system is set up for this type of charity scam.
Show threadGaschNov 29, 2022

@rbreich charity is simply an excuse to perpetuate the systems that generate our massive inequality. The people should decide how resources are distributed; not individual capitalist parasites. Does anyone really trust billionaires to make better decisions about how their resources should be used than a democratic process would? We see what they do; shuffle money around often to themselves or family members via charities and use that as a tax avoidance scheme.

While people freeze to death.

Show threadJason DidnerNov 29, 2022
@rbreich In his new autobiography, #Bono made the point that all the funds raised for Ethiopia in the 80s amounted to about one week of the country's debt payments. Justice impacts lives more than charity.
Show threadThe Big RNov 29, 2022

@rbreich eat the rich.

time to bring back an old t-shirt

Show threadOnno de HaasNov 29, 2022
@rbreich generous living is important. Charity as a systemic fix for a consious decision to let ppl die rather than pay taxes is , imho, pure evil
Show threadThe ComicseurNov 29, 2022
@rbreich I used to work in industries where "philanthropy" was encourage but not to help the actual causes but to network & find new clients. It was 100% self serving & absolutely disgusting. All these foundations are fake for networking & self promotion. Needless to say I couldn't partake in it & it makes me nauseous just thinking about it. Even had a board member threaten to blacklist me to other members if I didn't fall in line with their rules for 'image'
Show threadRealGene ☣️Nov 29, 2022
@rbreich When their charitable giving is funnelled through their own foundations, it's clearly just a tax dodge.
Show threadMarkūs Mars Nov 29, 2022
@rbreich A healthy democracy doesn’t require charity. The more charity, the sicker the society.
Show threadDenisNov 29, 2022
@rbreich #sacklerfamily
Show threadAmanda HugankissNov 29, 2022
@rbreich How about this? I’ve just become King Of The World, and I’ve just brought in a new law that nobody gets more than one of anything until everybody in the world has one of that thing. Those already with more than one of anything have the choice of donating it or being taxed on it.
Show threadseedsinputinspocketNov 29, 2022
@rbreich Charity is a tax break for them.
Show threadcowvinNov 29, 2022
@rbreich The rich would rather give to charity than pay taxes because they can control where the money goes. They can then use the "charity" money to pay their friends who run the "charity," etc.
Show threadGenevieve (she/they)Nov 29, 2022
@rbreich I remember a while back Bill Gates released a book on slowing climate change and paid a bunch of climate/science youtubers to praise the book. Gates was applauded for putting so much money into this work but a few youtubers who didn't take his money pointed out that his book just upheld the status quo and failed to actually promote any real solutions - likely because true system change would threaten his wealth. Yet many failed to reconcile this because he was "doing a good thing".
Show threadJaneETowleNov 30, 2022
@rbreich I like Bill Gates and he has done well with his wealth the newcomers have not done as well in my opinion to put it politely