Academic

YES, BUT IT SEEMS LESS CHRISTIAN ? EVEN TO PEOPLE WHO DON?T THINK OF THEMSELVES AS CHRISTIAN. Busi?

By Glenn Reynolds

YES, BUT IT SEEMS LESS CHRISTIAN — EVEN TO PEOPLE WHO DON’T THINK OF THEMSELVES AS CHRISTIAN. Business Success Helps Society More Than Philanthropy.

Successful entrepreneurs-turned-philanthropists typically say they feel a responsibility to “give back” to society. But “giving back” implies they have taken something. What, exactly, have they taken? Yes, they have amassed great sums of wealth. But that wealth is the reward they have earned for investing their time and talent in creating products and services that others value. They haven’t taken from society, but rather enriched us in ways that were previously unimaginable. …

While businesses may do more for the public good than they’re given credit for, philanthropies may do less. Think about it for a moment: Can you point to a single charitable accomplishment that has been as transformative as, say, the cell phone or the birth-control pill? To the contrary, the literature on philanthropy is riddled with examples of failure, including examples where philanthropic efforts have actually left intended beneficiaries worse off.

I should note that there’s plenty of corruption in the nonprofit world, too, but with far less scrutiny than for-profit businesses receive.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on August 21, 2010 (boomark / email).