Resources / Ripples & Wipeouts

Michael Edwards, a distinguished senior fellow at Demos and former Ford Foundation exec, has a brilliant opinion piece in the January 14 issue of Chronicle of Philanthropy on why philanthropy needs to change in order to make real progress in solving difficult social problems.  He also has a new book called Small Change: Why Business Won’t Save the World, soon to be reviewed here on the Make Waves website.  Meanwhile, you can read my review on Amazon.com of Michael’s earlier book, Just Another Emperor: The Myths and Realities of Philanthrocapitalism. (The photo of Michael Edwards is courtesy of Third Sector magazine.)

Here’s an excerpt from the Chronicle piece:

“Philanthropy as we know it now is based on a strange assumption: Let’s develop a hugely costly and divisive system for creating wealth and then hope that those who benefit most will give some back to solve problems that they have helped to cause.  That’s probably the least efficient way possible to tackle social problems--and the reason why it’s time to replace noblesse oblige with citizen-centered philanthropy that helps to revive activism across our society.” Read the full article here.

--Bonnie McEwan