THE PRICE OF HUMANITY

How capitalism has transformed modern giving into an act that erases rather than restores human dignity.

Philanthropy means “love of humanity,” writes journalist and academic Schiller. However, in our 21st-century Gilded Age, “charitable appeals are not about actual people.” Instead, they turn human beings “into ciphers, uncomplicated representations of desperation and vulnerability.” This approach stems from the early Christian view that philanthropy was a personal virtue, as opposed to the ancient world’s understanding of it as a civic responsibility. Schiller argues that contemporary philanthropic philosophies combine this early Christian idea with a capitalist ethos that judges the poor worthy of the basics for physical survival, but not necessarily of “a quality of life far beyond sustenance, into [opportunities] to excel, create.” Terms such as “social entrepreneurship” and “philanthrocapitalism,” embodied by in the charitable work of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and other “self-important yet small-minded” business owners, frame giving as a form of investment. Schiller sees only a few exceptional philanthropists aware of social inequality, including MacKenzie Scott and LeBron James. However, even they are subject to the inexorable power of capitalism because their giving does not address the uneven power relations that give rise to structural inequality. The author wants to replace the utilitarian ethos underlying philanthropy with a more humanistic one, ideally in conjunction with a government committed to offering basic sustenance to all. Offering meaningful ways for everyone to give—as Joseph Pulitzer did in 1885 when he asked working-class New Yorkers to contribute to a Statue of Liberty pedestal fund—would also enhance public commitment to broader social well-being. Schiller presents a hopeful vision of philanthropy and society designed to enable all human beings to fully participate in all of life’s pleasures, including the uniquely human capacity for imagination, creativity, and cooperation.

Thoughtful, timely reading, both intelligent and humane.