A time for philanthropy
Philanthropy is rooted in the basic instincts that all social plants and creatures have developed and inherited on Earth. We have learned to strengthen ourselves by giving freely to others what we can spare from our own basic needs of survival. Philanthropic actions in the animal kingdom include standing watch over grazing and foraging herds or packs of animals, sharing water and shelter in times of danger, and welcoming new members to small communities. Human philanthropy is more closely tied to emotional needs than animal philanthropy. We developed complex societies to manage our resources and provide for our basic needs more efficiently, but as our societies grew we found some people were able to contribute less, or were more dependent upon the group as a whole. Although some social groups have pruned themselves of less productive members most societies extend some benefit and protection to the weak, the sick, the injured, and the elderly. By caring for those who once cared for us, and who may care for us again, we extended our survivability. But as we separated into classes (wealthy and poor) the burden of supporting the less fortunate shifted to the wealthy classes. Kings, nobles, and despots learned quickly that providing bread and circuses to the masses could win their loyalties. What may have begun as communal resource management evolved into political engineering and from there into social engineering. In the late 19th Century Andrew Carnegie suggested to his fellow magnates that they had a moral obligation to society to dispose of their excess wealth in a responsible and beneficial manner. Whereas medieval European nobles would bequeath wealth to the Church in hopes of heavenly rewards, Carnegie and his generation of magnates concluded that by enrichening socity they would help make the world a better place for their children and descendants. Ultimately, the redistribution of wealth through philanthropy ensures that wealth families obtain trust and respect from their less fortunate peers, who collectively have the power to strip them of their wealth and lives (as has happened to many wealthy groups throughout history). But the channels that philanthropy creates for investment and research also act as an economic pressure valve, stimulating growth in small industries whose value arise from broadening humanity’s growth rather than from promoting individual survival rewards. A full understanding of how the wealthier families empower us all through philanthropy has emerged slowly as we have come to share in many of the benefits that Carnegie and his successors championed. The next step forward in our social growth may empower the individual sufficiently to reduce our need for philanthropic activities, but only time will tell. Until the future brings such an individually liberating day we should celebrate this time for philanthropy.
