Should we just pay off all Covid-related rent arrears?

Maybe the question is not “either/or” but both through collaboration. Why not an independent government-funded board advising philanthropists on wise spending. If they want to get rid of some of their cash, they might as well spend them on solving fundamental societal problems – such as the roots of poverty, drug use and obesity.

You ask if philanthropists or governments are better at channelling money where it needs to go? I suggest neither.

Our current economic system enables big business and government to systematically exploit the masses and push more and more people into poverty. While it’s nice of big business philanthropists like MacKenzie Scott to “give back” and government to spend on social services, if we want a more sustainable society, then we need to transition to a co-operative economic model, as exemplified by Mondragon Co-op in Spain and by many the co-operatives operating in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.

Governments only add to the need for philanthropy. At the moment, the Australian government is throwing public money to the most destructive, out-of-sync with the times group of all – fossil fuel companies. And they certainly don’t need it.

Huge concessions go to the timber industry. Both industries are contributing to climate change, pollution, forest fires, destruction of wildlife, etc. So no wonder that I find an endless stream of begging emails in my inbox.

It is good that donors have stepped up as their own incomes and fortunes have increased considerably faster than the average. Their motives for giving may be many, and not all entirely wholesome, but their generosity is nonetheless to be applauded.
However,
• if those who are giving so much have gained their fortunes in unwholesome ways or at the expense of the basic well-being and rights of others;
• if they have gained their fortunes in illegal, immoral or even amoral ways;
• if the giving is to causes that disproportionally benefit subsets of the population of their choosing rather than those most in need;
• if, lastly and perhaps most importantly, their giving is motivated by notions of future, further gains in wealth or fame for themselves,
then it falls short of true giving.
As societies evolve, the systems that promote and allow such uninhibited accumulation of vast wealth are always those that are least compassionate, least caring of their members and least able to help all those who need help. True social democracies that practice open market economics while providing a real welfare and safety net to those less fortunate are the ones to follow.

Thanks for writing about this important topic. I would add another question to the ones you raised at the end of your piece: What are the conditions that have made it possible for a few individuals to accumulate so much money and for this to be widely accepted (indeed celebrated) as a mechanism by which resources are redistributed in society?

While it is obviously important to pay attention to the individuals/organisations in control of so much money and on the effects that their actions have, I think it is equally important to ask what made this possible and accepted in the first place.