Philanthropy Is Not Selfless

For every dollar that a billionaire gives to charity, we taxpayers chip in 74 cents of lost tax revenue. Philanthropy effectively enables this oligarch class a way of opting out of paying taxes while still exerting full ongoing control over their wealth. The wealthy love having their names on new university buildings and hospitals but who would pay to have their name on a fleet of garbage trucks? If you look at the 2021 50 biggest billionaire donations, none of those 50 gifts went to addressing the pandemic, racial polarization or extreme inequality.