Jack Peat — Poorest London Boroughs Give Most to Charity

I guess taxes are just to high for those oppressed rich folk to contribute. (snark)

The London Economic
Poorest London Boroughs Give Most to Charity

Jack Peat

David F. Ruccio — The Keeper Pledge

"… conspicuous philanthropy—which is the basis of the Giving Pledge and, even more, the Keeper Pledge—allows a few wealthy individuals to capture a large portion of the surplus and then, privately, to define what it means to make the world a better place."

In a capitalistic system, I don't see that this is all that bad. The real issue is the distribution system that allows a very small number of people to capture so much of the surplus in the first place.

Occasional Links & Commentary
The Keeper Pledge

David F. Ruccio | Professor of Economics, University of Notre Dame

Eric Michael Johnson — What Philanthropic Organizations Need to Know about Giving – Is philanthropy driven by morality or markets?

The notion that philanthropy resulted from the invention of money is a pillar of classical economics. It is also a myth. After more than two centuries of searching for an indigenous society that approximates Adam Smith’s parable of the original barter system, anthropologists have concluded that it can only be imaginary. “No example of a barter economy, pure and simple, has ever been described, let alone the emergence from it of money; all available ethnography suggests that there never has been such a thing,” wrote Cambridge anthropologist Caroline Humphrey in a 1985 paper titled “Barter and Economic Disintegration” in the journal Man. Instead, researchers have discovered that philanthropy is far more central to human social organization than economists had ever imagined.

The notion that philanthropy resulted from the invention of money is a pillar of classical economics. It is also a myth.…

This suggests that Adam Smith wasn’t so much chronicling the evolution of modern market economies as he was observing what existed during his time and then projecting it onto the human past.…

Evonomics

What Philanthropic Organizations Need to Know about Giving

Eric Michael Johnson

Top Ranking Stock Analyst Calls for Mass Wealth Redistribution | Interview with Ronnie Moas

Top Ranking Stock Analyst Calls for Mass Wealth Redistribution | Interview with Ronnie Moas
(h/t Charles Hayden)

A man on fire.

See also Philanthropy and Philosophy
(h/t Tyler Healy in the comments)

Falguni A. Sheth on neoliberalism and the biopolitics of charity

In my research, I’ve been exploring neoliberalism and the biopolitics of charity. How do we understand consumption and activism in a society whose social/public safety nets are increasingly eroded?

I’m going to try to post a series of pieces on neoliberal practices. This is the first. And there’s a fun snarky video at the end.

Translation Exercises — Philosophers Club
Consumer Activism and the Biopolitics of Consumption

Correcting the Poor: The Civilizing Impulses of Homo Corporatus and Private Charities

Falguni A. Sheth

(h/t John Zelnicker)

Peter Buffett: Big Philanthropy and Philanthro-Feudalism — Laura Flanders Interview

Laura Flanders' interviews stream at GRITtv.org. This week, Peter Buffett, son of billionaire investor Warren on the conflict between capitalism and humanism. Says Buffett: "You can't have both."

Truthout
Peter Buffett: Big Philanthropy and Philanthro-Feudalism
Laura Flanders, GRITtv | Video Interview