To speak of philanthropy as “giving back” rather than simply of “giving” makes philanthropy seem to be a matter of justice rather than of generosity, stripping it of its moral character.
We often think of philanthropy as simply making a positive contribution to the life of the republic. But so-called “big philanthropy” – philanthropy carried out on the grandest scale by the wealthiest individuals and foundations – has a complicated place in a democracy like ours.
There have been two dominant approaches to explaining poverty: a liberal approach that emphasizes structural economic and historical causes of poverty, and a conservative approach that emphasizes cultural factors and individual failings.