Rather Suspect

This week, Jeff Besoz announced that he would give away most of his $120 billion in his lifetime. Hoorah! What a magical world we live in where a man not only can create a business which generates such vast amounts of wealth but then have the generosity to commit to giving it away.

Except…why does all this feel so awful?

Simple. Because we don’t live in a monarchy anymore. And this approach to both wealth-building and distribution is incompatible with democracy.

Because what will happen now? He and his partner will form a foundation. They’ll hire a very talented team of advisors. They’ll make “strategic bets” based on their well-researched “theories of change.” And then, in the upcoming years, some very deserving non-profit leaders will receive massive grants to help them pursue their missions. What’s not to love?

Only this. We don’t do this anymore.

We don’t — or we shouldn’t — have to bow before the king in order to ask for funds to address the failings in our society. We should — as a society — be able to do this on our own by forming and funding the institutions necessary.

A billionaire committing to “giving away” his fortune is not Free Money. It’s money with plenty of strings attached, and worst of all these strings aren’t transparent. Should we put this money toward addressing the environment, improving education, or creating new economic opportunities? It’s not for us to decide: that’s the domain of the King. Behind closed doors, he (just like Gates, Zuckerberg, and the others) will decide what areas they deem worthy.

But isn’t it better that he do this than keep the fortune himself? I contend, no. To introduce a new source of funding at this scale encourages and promotes an asymmetry in addressing societal issues which would be much better addressed through open, transparent approaches. In other words, through democratic approaches.

Let’s respect our social impact leaders and remove this spectacle of them having to kiss the ring. Instead, let’s all of us take up the power we already have, and get to work.