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Since 1990 in America and around the world, philanthropy and
international development, together "HELP," emerged to become a
revolutionary force. It alters the political landscape outside the
traditional political theater, influencing basic social conditions
and institutions. How this RELIGINDUSTRY grew from the passing of
baskets in church, the benefits it provides and the distortions it
creates is the subject of this book. HELP is an industry in that it
now comprises a huge part of the American economy, more than ten
percent, with professional schools, organizations, journals and
influential lobbying groups. Charity is a universal movement,
marked by social media, weekly marches and meetings and
self-congratulatory celebrity endorsements, a religion, in that it
requires us to participate on faith. The expansion of marketing
strategies obscures the best-intentioned charitable motives.
Innovative marketing techniques such as "Cause Marketing," "Ethical
Consumerism," and "Crowd Sourcing" employ a broad range of tactics:
the proclamation of (unreachable) goals, meetings, blogs and media
events, in an orgy of Orwellian language. Financial institutions
and corporations seek to transform the non-profit sector into
profit-making organizations, blurring the distinction between the
two. A new megawealthy class influences society behind a scrim of
"good-works." Their foundations, once small in number and a force
for pluralistic debate, risk becoming a national plutocracy that
overwhelms democratic processes, assuming direction of areas once
the purview of government, (e.g. health and education).
Individually, according to their own values, they dictate policies
and the means to implement them. Paradoxically, while claiming they
support those in need, many work to sustain a system that increases
economic inequality, using financial and political power to avoid
taxation, that is, the funding of government for social services.
Traditionally, American philanthropy has been separate from
international developmental assistance. The HELP revolution brings
them together. National and international HELP relies upon the same
non-profit resources, marketing strategies and personnel, employing
the same methods, practices and values. It is not a coincidence
that the Gates, Soros and Clinton foundations, to name a few
examples, work on projects in America, Africa, and India. As in
America, international developmental assistance employs hundreds of
thousands of individuals. Agencies such as the UN, the World Bank,
national organizations (e.g. USAID), and private philanthropy and
NGOs support projects in a hundred countries, highly-paid officials
and experts as well their support staffs. Academia, HELP's
handmaiden, provides the intellectual foundation, with ongoing
debates in articles, books, blogs and meetings. Consultants move
from universities to foundations to international organizations and
back, creating an appearance of self-aggrandizement or conflicts of
interest. HELP has become so enormous, its influence so persuasive,
that control, even understanding, is impossible. In an industry
afflicted by self-perpetuating bureaucratic policies, conflicting
social goals, inefficiencies, unknown consequences, erratic
measurement strategies and ill-spent budgets, how to discern
effectiveness? Who pays? The society as a whole and those in need,
in particular. Efficient charities suffer as other more popular if
less urgent philanthropies absorb resources. Philanthropy to assist
the impoverished and those in need remains a strength of American
society but does the new, enormous professional class overwhelm
good-works in size as well as funds? Does the HELP revolution
improve the social fabric at home and abroad? Does the new
religindustry imperil charity through commercialization? What are
the motives behind the megawealthy whose foundations shape the
industry? And, is the growth of this new oligopoly a democratic or
an anti-democratic force?
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