Thom Hartmann: The Koch Brothers funding schools to teach sweatshops are good?

[thomhartmann]

Run time: 05:37 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXxSXqMePVk   Posted on YouTube: May 13, 2011 By YouTube Member: TheBigPictureRT Views on YouTube: 105   Posted on DU: May 13, 2011 By DU Member: thomhartmann Views on DU: 643

 
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[freshwest]

1. That fits in with their world view, all rights. Thanks for the post.

[JDPriestly]

2. It is generally assumed that "philanthropy" is a good thing.

Much of it is.

But I used to do grantwriting for a social service agency that served the homeless, mostly homeless, African-American and Hispanic men.

I perused the tax forms and grant application requirements of many supposedly philanthropic organizations. Based on that experience, I think that it is unfortunate that money that should be paid into our tax revenue to fund unexciting but necessary programs like homeless assistance, rehabilitation of people convicted of crimes, child abuse, public schools, home nursing care for the helpless and elderly, prenatal care for all children, and on and on and on, actually goes to fund research that leads to lucrative patents for huge corporations or propaganda that twists the thinking of millions of voters.

Nothing wrong with doing that research. I just think that the money spent on the research should be subject to a fair share of taxes so that a small portion of the money goes to fund truly important public projects.

Think about it. A rich person's ability to donate large sums of money in a society that is increasingly "privatized" gives that rich person far more access to the press, to politicians, to public opinion and far more influence in determining the direction of public policy than any one person should have.

People don't say anything about this problem because it sounds so awful to criticize philanthropy. But when the philanthropy is not a selfless gift, but rather a means to wield power over public policies and determine priorities that should be decided by the voters and their representatives, then it's not virtuous. It's just cheating other taxpayers.