It is heartwarming to see Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have
achieved some success this week with the visit of their traveling philanthropy road
show to China. A number of rich Chinese have apparently promised "very
generous gifts" to the Gates-Buffett initiative to get billionaires from
around the world to give at least half their wealth to philanthropic causes. It
has been estimated that the effort by America's two richest men could net up to
$150 billion for good causes from the commitments they already have.
It is impossible to fault such efforts at voluntary redistribution
of wealth from the infinitesimal few who have the most to the many who have so
little. After all philanthropy comes from roots meaning the love of man or
mankind and certainly we never can have enough of that in a world in which such
sentiments are as spottily distributed and scarce as great personal fortunes.
Still, for all the momentum behind the Gates-Buffet-Clinton Global
Initiative modern philanthropy trend, it is important we realize the short-comings
of such efforts. Leaving decisions about how assets are distributed to address
global problems to the rich is as unjust as letting them have a
disproportionate voice in politics or setting any other priorities for the bulk
of society. They answer to no one and come with their own biases and knowledge
gaps no matter how well intentioned they are. Further, while philanthropy is a
useful adjunct to public sector efforts to address social needs it can
sometimes serve as a screen or preemptive argument suggesting that either
government programs can be cut back on the one hand or that we needn't tax the
rich or question the gross inequities in our economic system by which they have
benefitted.
No, while we applaud the donor billionaires we should also
continue question how we can fix a system that has allowed the creation of
something over a thousand billionaires among six billion people, a cadre that
has a net worth equal to something like the poorest 2.5 billion of their fellow
humans. And we might even encourage even the most generous of these
billionaires to go further and campaign as actively for programs that give all
the people more say in where the riches produced by society go ... programs
like income taxes.
In fact, that would be the most moving and groundbreaking
initiative this election season ... a movement among the rich to embrace an
adjustment of the tax code to enable us to stop borrowing from our children to
finance a system that enriches so few. That would be real philanthropy ... rich Americans arguing for dropping
the Bush tax cuts to ensure future generations had a fair shot at a decent life
rather toiling to pay for the excesses of their parents and grandparents.
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