{"id":14937,"date":"2017-11-02T15:45:04","date_gmt":"2017-11-02T22:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=14937"},"modified":"2017-11-04T12:28:28","modified_gmt":"2017-11-04T19:28:28","slug":"philanthropy-as-money-laundering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/philanthropy-as-money-laundering\/","title":{"rendered":"Philanthropy as money laundering"},"content":{"rendered":"

My review of the brief pamphlet, Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools[1]<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, by Richard Paul and Linda Elder, provided me with a sharp set of tools for advancing with research on generational transitions in Christian family philanthropy.\u00a0 How to analyze logic, how to reason, how to approach research, a template for problem-solving, and the problems of egocentric and sociocentric thinking all are possible grids for reviewing one\u2019s research to ensure I am moving toward a more robust, mature expression of ideation for the topic at hand.<\/p>\n

The genius of this course is that while we learn how to read and research, critique and evaluate (thanks to Adler, Bayard, Rowntree, et al.), we are at the same time compiling an active bibliography of sources for our research topic.\u00a0 This week I annotated my first six sources a few steps away at our (only) local coffee shop, Something\u2019s Brewing.<\/a>\u00a0 As I drank my Just Us! fair trade latte<\/a>, I was arrested by concepts in a book by Daniel M. Bell called The Economy of Desire<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Bell has some critical and deeply disturbing words for philanthropists that will cause me to examine them both here and in greater depth as I research. \u00a0I was both appalled and attracted as I read these brazen passages; most people are too nice to say bad things about philanthropists, but I thought anyone who tries to speak the truth deserves a hearing. \u00a0Within our capitalistic system and its resulting sociocentric thinking, we have \u201c[t]he uncritical tendency to internalize group norms and beliefs, take on group identities, and act as we are expected to act \u2013 without the least sense that what we are doing might reasonably be questioned.\u201d[2]<\/a>\u00a0 Bell was giving me a gift; he was offering more than groupthink.\u00a0 I realized I could apply the skills from Paul and Elder’s critical thinking concepts and tools to this provocative chapter.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Here is a taste of Bell\u2019s view of philanthropy: \u201c[It] sustains the system insofar as it is a means of \u2018laundering\u2019 the profits of the current order.\u201d[3]<\/a>\u00a0 And then, \u201cPhilanthropy, like stewardship, is giving that has become disconnected from any question of justice in earnings.\u00a0 Indeed, philanthropy becomes a means of shoring up the image of capitalism\u2019s beneficiaries.\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 He continues, \u201cPhilanthropic giving is an expression of private ownership.\u00a0 It is giving that is first and foremost an act of self-expression.\u00a0 It is born in the need of the giver, and, even if it is quite public, philanthropy is still the expression of private interest or desire. All of which to say that philanthropy severs giving from mutuality. While it may meet some needs \u2013 of the giver first and foremost but, hopefully, of the recipients as well \u2013 it does not build community.\u00a0 It does not create, extend, or renew human relations beyond the capitalist form.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

These strike me as true statements, though they are hard to read.\u00a0 I have never considered philanthropy as money laundering before, and can see how the author could make these claims.\u00a0 I am particularly moved by his perspective that philanthropy does not build community but merely reinforces the us\/them divide.<\/p>\n

Bell contrasts this cynical view of philanthropy with works of mercy, which he suggests are the evidence of the new kingdom of God emerging in our midst.\u00a0 These are a part of the divine economy, a restructuring of our households, societies, and systems, that is led by the Spirit of God through the Church at work in the world. Works of mercy bring us together as a living community, as a body of interdependent family members, with Christ as the head. We are one in Christ.\u00a0 We all gather around one table and eat.\u00a0 We all give what is in our hands and share.\u00a0 The story of Ananias and Sapphira had a dramatic and unexpected ending for a couple who couldn\u2019t prioritize living in community[6]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our calling as followers of Christ introduces a new order into our world through works of mercy.\u00a0 These disrupt the systems of the world, including philanthropy, which as a privatized act often merely reinforces existing systems.\u00a0 I would venture to say we are bordering on Mike\u2019s thesis topic as we are now discussing confronting the evils of capitalism.<\/p>\n

While I applaud Daniel Bell\u2019s courage in critiquing capitalism and standing up against the roar of the status quo, he does so, it seems as a theoretician.\u00a0 I am just beginning to understand his ideas, but they strike me as sadly impotent in our real world where we exist within a capitalist framework.\u00a0 He cites intentional Christian communities like the Catholic Worker Movement, the New Monasticism, and Focolare[7]<\/a> as examples of groups that embody the new divine economy that are rooted in simplicity and solidarity.\u00a0 We create alternative markets for fair trade products, sign petitions for the Jubliee campaign to offer debt-laden nations freedom, and advocate for honest pay for honest work. Yet in the face of so immense a ravenous system, these small, insignificant beginnings seem fragile and doomed to failure, as a mouse shivering before a lion.<\/p>\n

In particular, the question is personal.\u00a0 I am a follower of Christ who at the same time leads a philanthropic organization.\u00a0 I work with Christian families to assist them in reorganizing their portfolios for this new divine economy.\u00a0 How can I utilize resources and exert leadership to subvert our current system and welcome the new kingdom where people matter more than things, and we don\u2019t commodify ourselves and our services?\u00a0 How can a new story be told through the humble scraps of bread and small fish in our hands?<\/p>\n

Christian philanthropy must be distinct from traditional philanthropy.\u00a0 Now, we are trapped within a system where the \u201cnow and not yet\u201d is a constant reality. \u00a0We see now through a glass darkly[8]<\/a>. \u00a0I live and structure my life so imperfectly, so self-centredly. Though it has flaws, philanthropy must be redeemed and reordered to create and nurture community, bringing to earth the fulness of the kingdom of God.\u00a0 One day we will see Jesus face to face[9]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

______________________________________<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Paul, Richard and Linda Elder. The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools.<\/em> Dillon Beach, CA: Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2003.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Paul and Elder, 22.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Bell, Daniel M. The Economy of Desire: Christianity and Capitalism in a Postmodern World<\/em>. \u00a0(Grand Rapids, MI\u202f: Baker Academic, 2012), 199-200.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Bell, 200.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Bell, 202-203.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Acts 5:1-11.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Bell, 211.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> I Corinthians 13:12a.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> I Corinthians 13:12b.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My review of the brief pamphlet, Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools[1], by Richard Paul and Linda Elder, provided me with a sharp set of tools for advancing with research on generational transitions in Christian family philanthropy.\u00a0 How to analyze logic, how to reason, how to approach research, a template for problem-solving, and the problems of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,1017,924],"class_list":["post-14937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-lgp8","tag-paul-and-elder","cohort-lgp8"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14937"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14993,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14937\/revisions\/14993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}