When critiquing philanthropy it’s tempting to be categorical and easy to be defensive. Two thought leaders on the subject, journalist Anand Giridharadas and Phil Buchanan of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, have received much media attention of late for their seemingly divergent views.
Giridharadas’ book, Winners Take All: The elite charade of changing the world, argues that philanthrocapitalists, corporate foundations, and tech billionaires’ “win-win solutions” are eroding the duty of public institutions to solve complex social issues like rising inequality. Buchanan, who also has a book, Giving Done Right: Effective Philanthropy and Making Every Dollar Count, has been defending philanthropy as an evolving institution in response to these critiques.
Unfortunately, given the state of mainstream media, pseudo interpersonal conflicts about philanthropy are what gets media attention and sells books. However, given the severity of the shared global issues before us like the climate crisis and rising authoritarianism, do we really have time for individualized intellectual one-upmanship? Whether it’s Easterly vs. Sachs or Moyo vs. Gates or now Giridharadas vs. Buchanan, there is no reason to limit dialogue to dualistic battles of the ego.
